Jump to content
SAU Community

Recommended Posts

764954-japan-quake-disaster-nuclear-accident-export.jpg

Radiation: A Nissan worker checks radiation levels on a "Nissan GT-R" sports car produced in Japan at its Oppama factory in Yokosuka, some 40-kilometre south of Tokyo. Picture: Toshifumi Kitamura Source: AFP

  • First test of non-food imports from Japan
  • Fears used cars will contain radiation
  • Pressure from dock workers resulted in tests

A BOATLOAD of 800 cars arriving in Sydney from Japan will be tested for radiation by the nuclear watchdog after other Japanese vehicles were found to be radioactive.

The move is the first Australian test of non-food exports from the fallout-ravaged Asian nation, and marks a turn-around in position for the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency.

Officials from ARPANSA will board the cargo ship Trans Future 7 when it docks in Port Kembla on Thursday, after picking up 700 Toyotas and 100 other cars from the Japanese port of Yokohama.

Thirty of those vehicles are used cars, which the maritime union fears could have been in areas affected by the March earthquake and tsunami that damaged nuclear reactors along the Japanese east coast.

The officials will use hand-held radiation detectors and will also take surface samples from spots where people in Japan could have touched the vehicles

Previously, the agency had said such tests were unnecessary. However, after intense pressure from dock workers and the discovery in Chile of low levels of radioactivity in cars shipped from Yokohama, ARPANSA said it will conduct the tests to reassure stevedores.

The Maritime Union of Australia said the decision was a win for both workers and the general public.

"Any risk of radiation is too big to take," Assistant Secretary Warren Smith said.

"Workers and consumers come into direct contact with these cars.

"We know from the tragedy in Japan that people are feeling the effects of radiation hundreds of kilometres away from the destroyed nuclear plant. We can't take the risk of contaminating workers."

ARPANSA's acting head of Radiation Health Peter Johnston said the agency did not expect levels of radioactivity but was taking the measure as a precaution.

"We're not expecting to find anything but what we're discussing at the moment is to go on to the ship and monitor a few vehicles before they unload, really to provide reassurance to dock workers," he said. "We'll have a range of different instruments."

Professor Johnston said that food remained the highest risk area for radioactive contamination and ARPANSA was also continuing to test exports from affected areas.

So far only one sample has been found to be radioactive, and that was below the international safety standard.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/fears-of-radioactive-cars-in-australia/story-e6frfkvr-1226079150195#ixzz1PsIy75Y8

Link to comment
https://www.sau.com.au/forums/topic/368481-interesting-news-article/
Share on other sites

Dono weather i should be scared or not. What happens if the car does test positive? I can pretty much kiss $50,000 goodbye and never see them again as i highly doubt any of those costs would be reimbursed. Not good =/

depends what readings they get and what distance. anything upto about 100 mili severts at surface will be fine and a good wash will get rid of any resadue. i work with radiation everyday and people just go into panic mode without knowing or understanding the full details.

I wouldnt be worried and would quite happily drive and own a car that showed any of reading

depends what readings they get and what distance. anything upto about 100 mili severts at surface will be fine and a good wash will get rid of any resadue. i work with radiation everyday and people just go into panic mode without knowing or understanding the full details.

I wouldnt be worried and would quite happily drive and own a car that showed any of reading

read a bit about radiation. the dose has to be huge and concentrated to really do some damage

I hope mine copped a little dose of radiation before it left Japan a month ago. With a little luck it might slowly mutate and sprout twin turbos and two extra exhausts within a few years.......or just go green like the hulk!?

yeah I read this yesterday in the paper. about the only thing I know for sure is it will be a small inconvenience for all those small importers with a car on this voyage of trans future 7. toyota will get their cars out no problem. they are starved for stock atm and no way will they let this stuff sit there too long. at most they might order a decontamination wash of all the vehicles which'll raise a bit more cash for AAT. I wouldn't be too worried, just expect your car to be redlined and held a few extra days at the wharf.

  • 1 month later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Similar Content

  • Latest Posts

    • So stock ECU does not like anything above 10 psi?  That Nistune one is just for "try" if it will be any different, I know it need to be tune for that. I know but YOU may know about these problem but i/we dont. They few little Skylines here let alone people who know anything about tham so that is why iam asking here  
    • So now we have a radiator with no attachments whatsoever. It lifts up with a particularly tight spot between the drivers side air box mount and the lower radiator outlet, but if you've got this far you will sort that too. This is the lower mounts with the rad out so you can see where the rubber bushes go, it is a straight shot upwards Done! Assembly is the reverse of disassembly, with blood less likely to be shed.
    • Right, onto the second last trick. The Air Con condenser is mounted to the front of the radiator and stays in the car when the radiator is removed. There are 2x 10mm headed self tappers holding the top of the condenser to the radiator, remove those The bottom of the condenser is attached to the radiator with clips. You need to lift the condenser out of those clips and clear (up, then forward). f**ked if  could work out how to do that last bit with the front bumper on. I hope you can, and you share the trick.  Bumper removal probably deserves its own thread one day once I've recovered the will to live, but basically you need to remove the wheels, front inner guard liners (clips and 10mm headed bolts), the self tapper between the guard and the bumper at the rearmost point of the bumper (same as an R32 that bit), any remaining clips at the top/front of the grill, an absolute bastard design with a plate that holds the top of the bumper above the headlight each side (only 1 bolt which is tricky to get to, but the plate catches 2 places on the bumper and must be removed....carefully!) and push clips between the bumper and guard under the headlight. If you've done all that you will be faced with wiring for the fog lights on both sides and in ADM Q50 RS at least, 4 nasty tight plugs on the driver's side for the ADAS stuff. So, the clips at the bottom look like this on drivers side (looking from the front) And on the passenger side (also from the front), you can see this one is already out Clearance on both of these are super tight; the condenser needs to move up but the upper rad support mount prevents that, and the radiator can't move down far because it is (rubber) mounted. Once you achieve the impossible and drop the condenser off those mounts so it does not stop the rad moving, you are good to go
    • OK, next the shroud needs to come off and there are a couple of tricks. Firstly, there is a loom from near the passenger side headlight to the fans, coolant temp sensor etc and there is no plug to undo.  In my case I was OK to leave the shroud on top of the engine so I just undid the passenger side fan plug and about 10 of the clips which gave enough free wire to put it aside. The fan plugs were super tight, the trick I used was a small falt screwdriver to push down on the release tab, then a larger flat screwdriver to lever the plug out of the fan unit....be careful with how much force you apply! If you need to remove the shroud altogether for some reason you will have to deal with all the plugs (tight) and clips (brittle)....good luck. I removed all of the clips and replaced them with cable ties that I will just cut next time. Also, in the Red Sport / 400R at least, the intake heat exchanger reservoir hose is bolted to the shroud in 2 places with 10mm headed bolts; so remove them (the hose stays in the car; no need to undo it at the t fittings down at the radiator lower mount. Once you've dealt with the HX hose and the wiring loom, there are 3x 10mm headed self tappers holding the top of the shroud to the radiator; remove those.   The shroud then lifts out of the bottom mounts where it sits on the radiator, up and onto the engine out of the way. Simples
    • Ok, disregard my “rate them” comment, sorry for my unrealistic input
×
×
  • Create New...