Is It Safe to Buy Products Made in Japan After Nuclear Disaster?
I was going to buy a laptop, and some of the parts could have been made in Japan. I was worried about possible radiation contamination after the disaster they had there back in March. I don't know if I'm overreacting, and I don't even know if nuclear radiation could be carried via a laptop shipped from Japan to the US, but I'm worried about it. Should I be concerned? Thanks
Other - News & Events - 8 Answers
People's Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
Answer 1 :
/facepalm
Answer 2 :
Yes it is safe The US government would not allow radiation contaminated products to enter the US because that would pose a danger to its citizens. You have nothing to worry about.
Answer 3 :
I suggest. Not. People in Japan are buying food from America now... but you wont die.
Answer 4 :
have a check, then you decide what yo buy.
Answer 5 :
Have some guts. I do.
Answer 6 :
not right now - go ahead and buy now while you can though - belive me - they arent letting anything in or out right now until inspected - even before any ships leave port which in some places that were near the zone are not going anyware - you arent over reacting at all - go ahead and buy what you want before they are able to lift the bans on trading for usa - as far as i know usa isant taking anything until stuff checked first - thats why there is already a problem with spare auto parts now - they cant ship until ok to do so -
Answer 7 :
I think it is just as safe today to buy products made in Japan as it was after two atom bombs were exploded onto Japan during WWII.
Answer 8 :
Yes, it's safe. You're confusing the disaster, which was the non-nuclear tsunami which followed the non-nuclear earthquake that killed over 10,000 people with the power plant problem which has harmed no one and isn't expected to either. Calling the power plant problem a disaster is like calling an ingrown toenail a life-threating situation. You will get more radiation from your cellphone or microwave oven than you ever will from Japan or anything made in Japan. The containment vessels did not rupture like they did in Chernobyl so the only radiation leaked was from the cooling water. Most of the radiation (about 80%) was iodine-131 which has a half life of about eight days so it quickly breaks down into non-radioactive substances (Hint: it will be more than two weeks before any parts reach you.). In addition, the area affected is very small. The no-entry zone was reduced from 10 km to 8km (six miles to five miles) and the precautionary evacuation zone is 30 km (16 miles). Japan is about the size of California so this is only a tiny portion of the country. If anything, the situation shows how safe nuclear power is. Consider that forty year old plants were hit with an earthquake five times the strength they were designed for and yet they still shut down safely. The generators came on like they were supposed to when grid power was cut. Then the tsunami hit and the generators were wiped out. However, the battery backup still worked for the designed eight hours. The problem happened when no new generators could be put in. Even so the problems have been minimal--media scare mongering for ratings not withstanding. Here is an informative article describing the situation: http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/03/13/fukushima-simple-explanation/ And here is where you find current, factual status information: http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html Historical status: http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2011/fukushimafull.html And a slide presentation that describes the effects: http://www.slideshare.net/iaea/radiological-monitoring-and-consequences-of-fukushima-nuclear-accident-2-june-2011 And here is a chart that helps make sense of the numbers: http://www.xkcd.com/radiation/
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