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Newsjock

(11,733 posts) Sat Oct 13, 2012, 08:01 PM Oct 2012

Radioactive kitchenware shipment ordered out of Canada

Source: CBC News

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) ordered that a small shipment of radioactive kitchenware, that found its way to the Port of Montreal, be taken out of the country.

The CNSC issued an order on Oct. 5, demanding that the contaminated container be sent back to India by Hanjin Shipping Canada — the company that delivered the cargo to Montreal's port last May.

... According to the order issued to Hanjin Shipping Canada, the utensils inside the two-cubic-foot box are contaminated with Cobalt-60, a radioactive isotope often used for medical radiation.

... Régimbald said Canada has seen an increase in contaminated packages coming from Asia since 2011.

According to the commission, the CBSA has intercepted about 15 shipments with radiation levels, above the permitted threshold since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant meltdown in Japan. Most of these cargos were sent to Vancouver.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/story/2012/10/13/radioactive-utensils-port-montreal.html

5 replies

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Highlight:

Radioactive kitchenware shipment ordered out of Canada (Original Post) Newsjock Oct 2012 OP

Well, if you had this cookware you wouldn't need a stove... The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2012 #1

Remember the lead in the crayons and plastic window blinds? Their toxic waste disposal site is us. freshwest Oct 2012 #2

Fiestaware is back! n/t backscatter712 Oct 2012 #3

I hope our Kitchenware is okay bkkyosemite Oct 2012 #4

Not from Fukushima. wtmusic Oct 2012 #5

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,702 posts)

1. Well, if you had this cookware you wouldn't need a stove...

Reply to Newsjock (Original post)

Sat Oct 13, 2012, 08:12 PM

Oct 2012

freshwest

(53,661 posts)

2. Remember the lead in the crayons and plastic window blinds? Their toxic waste disposal site is us.

Reply to Newsjock (Original post)

Sat Oct 13, 2012, 08:13 PM

Oct 2012

backscatter712

(26,355 posts)

3. Fiestaware is back! n/t

Reply to Newsjock (Original post)

Sat Oct 13, 2012, 08:23 PM

Oct 2012

bkkyosemite

(5,792 posts)

4. I hope our Kitchenware is okay

Reply to Newsjock (Original post)

Sat Oct 13, 2012, 09:01 PM

Oct 2012

I haven't seen any reports that we check for that stuff.

wtmusic

(39,166 posts)

5. Not from Fukushima.

Reply to Newsjock (Original post)

Sat Oct 13, 2012, 09:58 PM

Oct 2012

Cobalt-60 is nowhere in the decay chain of radioactive fuel used at Fukushima so it's impossible it was generated there. It's used as a radiation source for medical purposes and is not found in nature, either (it's created by bombarding Co-59 with a slow neutron source).

This is, with high probability, steel with recycled medical cobalt added as an alloy component. Cobalt's expensive; India is not known for strict controls on manufacturing. It's not hard to see how this could happen.

The most common radioactive materials which escaped from Fukushima were iodine-131, cesium-134, and cesium-137. The iodine is no longer radioactive, but even a month after the accident all imports from Japan to Canada show "<MDC" (less than Minimum Detectable Concentration) of all three isotopes.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/imp/importe.shtml

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