More than two months after Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant started leaking radiation, manufacturers in Tohoku are still trying to dispel rumors their industrial products are tainted.
“We lost a deal worth several hundred million yen” because a customer was concerned about radiation, said Yoshimasa Sekiguchi, an executive at Tohoku Bolt Manufacturing Co., a parts maker based in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, about 50 km from the crippled power plant. “For us, it’s a significant amount of money.”
The image of the Fukushima disaster has raised concerns that products may be contaminated amid the world’s worst nuclear crisis since the 1986 Chernobyl accident. For parts makers such as Tohoku Bolt, the perception is rankling because global demand for the products has increased amid a shortage.
Continue reading at “Radiation ‘bias’ weighs on Fukushima manufacturers” via the Japan Times Online.
