April 18, 2011
JAMA Comments on Radiation Testing Related to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Situation
Toshiyuki Shiga, Chairman, Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association, Inc.
Work continues at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station to stabilize conditions following the damage resulting from the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11. Notwithstanding those efforts, it appears that more time will be required to bring the situation at the plant under control.
Due to these circumstances, concerns regarding the impact of radioactive substances on motor vehicles manufactured in Japan are being directed to Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA) member automakers not only from overseas, but within Japan as well.
JAMA is fully confident in the safety of all motor vehicles manufactured in Japan. At the same time, it is aware of the need for consumers everywhere to be assured of such safety. For that reason, JAMA has initiated its own procedures to test the radiation levels of vehicles produced in Japan, having enlisted the expertise of an external authority specializing in the field.
In addition to the fact that, in all the areas where JAMA member companies maintain production bases and at all their ports of shipment, the radiation levels recorded are not harmful to human health, and the tests implemented by JAMA - which are conducted directly on various designated areas of the surface of vehicles - are showing results that fall within the range designated by the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan as being unthreatening to human health, based on the daily readings performed by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in every prefecture since March 25. JAMA’s test results are also significantly lower than the maximum allowable limit recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In view of these findings, JAMA is entirely confident that the motor vehicles now being manufactured by its member automakers in Japan present no cause for concern to consumers, whether overseas or in Japan.
