FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Kyodo) — The Fukushima prefectural government on Thursday asked the central government to buy all remaining beef in the market shipped from the prefecture before a shipment ban was imposed due to the discovery of cattle contaminated with radioactive cesium in excess of the government-set limit at a farm in the prefectural town of Namie, Fukushima officials said.
The prefectural government also asked the central government in writing to test all cattle in the prefecture for radiation to pave the way for lifting its ban on cattle shipments, the officials said.
In addition, the Fukushima government's survey found that a total of 603 cattle had been shipped from 25 farms in the prefecture, including the one in Namie, after the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster, until April 22 when wider evacuation zones were set.