So a dealer says all imports are radiation tested?
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tgray,
Jul 10, 11:31pm
Yeah right!
johotech,
Jul 10, 11:42pm
Not sure about all, but I saw a radiation test sticker on an import at VINZ yesterday. Maybe just the ones from Fukushima area?
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 11, 12:06am
Can we talk about hot particles again?
johotech,
Jul 11, 12:11am
Do you have some for sale? Made by Volkswagen or Mercedes?
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 11, 12:33am
No, but they come free with every used Jap import.
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 11, 1:13am
The whole radioactive car situation is an absolute mess. There were no immediate controls on the circulation of vehicles from fukushima and no timely reassurance to the Japanese public that they would be compensated for worthless vehicles. So vehicles quickly ended up all over Japan and then as the Japanese caught on to the risks, they ended up all over the world.
It actually suits the Japanese government very nicely if contaminated vehicles quietly disperse overseas as melting them for scrap doesn't remove radiation and they have not spent the money and set up radiation dumps for the vehicles like Russia did after Chernobyl.
They are supposedly tested before entering port property, yet strangely hundreds of shipments have been returned to Japan by Russia and other countries. Poor African nations became a target and officials in some of these places got so fed up with the situation that they just banned used Japanese imports all together.
It's a flipping mess.
What should have been happening as an absolute minimum here, is air filters should have been removed and tested on arrival, then returned to Japan as Nuclear waste. If cars were not suitably "clean" then they should have been returned as well.
But why go to the massive expense, upset the very large, vocal and lobbying Japanese used car importers? It's just so much easier to let these deadly contaminated vehicles quietly infiltrate our country. People will only die of cancer and experience birth defects, its unlikely they will be linked back to the real cause. Especially if we keep a lid on things.
We certainly don't want to upset a trading partner like Japan, that would be political suicide.
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 11, 1:18am
As a side note. the 5 year gestation period for thyroid cancer caused by radiation is just about up. With even the Japanese government requiring two million at risk people to have medical checkups annually, we can only wait and hope for the best.
tgray,
Jul 11, 2:03am
When she voiced her concerns, a customer told me today that a very well known dealer in NZ told her that all imports are radiation tested. She asked for evidence and after an awkward pause, they said the paperwork wasn't available. The Fair Trading Act prohibits dealers from misleading or deceiving customers, but that doesn't stop some from trying it on. This is a very well known company and should know better than to make up a bunch of bull.
tgray,
Jul 11, 2:14am
I thought a simple wash gets rid of most radiation? The people who are worried about this kind of thing, have no problems putting a cellphone up to their ear and having radiation pumped into their brain or going to the doctor and getting a scan done, that is many times the recommended radiation level you would find anywhere else. I think the chances of someone's great grandchild growing a third leg caused by radiation, is extremely low. By that time, medical science would have advanced enough to deal with this anyway.
gmphil,
Jul 11, 2:36am
my brother in ships parts from there and all are checked for radiation poor fella had a yard full of car to cut up in bring back when all turn to custard there . they are still there now . rekons there land fill now will never make back here
mack77,
Jul 11, 2:38am
Fair comment about people willingly using mobile phones (radio transmitters/receives) in close proximity to their brain, but be aware that electromagnetic radiation(from in this case a radio transmitter) is different to nuclear radiation. The main likely effect of electromagnetic radiation is cancer e.g. brain tumour although it's always impossible to determine the precise cause of such a cancer; it's always just a case of circumstantial evidence.
Nuclear radiation is ionising radiation which means that this radiation can knock electrons off atoms and thus affect genes which can result in birth defects for many generations. Birth defects are still occurring in Japan as a result of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and on Nagasaki; although this is no longer publicised. Nuclear radiation is also one of the causes of many cancers.
As for your comment on medical science, I think that your view is extremely optimistic.
Really? A great grandchild is three generations into the future. 'Extremely optimistic' is not a term I would use.
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 11, 4:19am
Not sure if you are pulling my leg here but for what it's worth.
No, radioactive steel stays radioactive. You can melt it down and it's still radioactive, so you can't even recycle them. That's why the Russians dumped all their irradiated cars/trucks/aircraft. This is also why it's incredibly expensive to dump nuclear waste, the majority of "nuclear waste" by the way is used overall's and that sort of thing. Not glowing barrels of green goop.
As an interesting side note, you can't make Geiger Counters and certain other instruments from steel processed after WW2, those items are made from low background steel which comes from old shipwrecks and the like.
It only takes 5 years or more to get thyroid cancer from radiation.
Radiation sickness, cancer etc is not likely something that we will "cure" in the near future.
This is quite serious stuff, and it saddens me that we as individuals are not given a choice on the matter. Parts are stolen, exported illegally, recycled etc that shouldn't be. Cars are bought in with radioactive hot particles in the filters and your local mechanic isn't even given the most basic warning about the dangers of blowing those filters out.
Our supposed "Nuclear Free" country is already well polluted with this stuff.
Also, forgot to mention, cell phones etc are an entirely different kind of issue. In fact even the Japan radiation situation is quite complex, many different forms, risks, types of contamination, half lives etc. It's not a simple situation.
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 11, 4:22am
Wish I saw this post before posting, nicely put and better explained than some of mine.
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 11, 4:28am
The thing is, the birth defects are happening now. Quite interestingly (but none the less very sadly) birth defects on the west coast of the US spiked quite dramatically in 2011 (up something like 60% I think). There is a reasonable likelihood that some or all of that spike is related to Fukushima. Birth defects in Japan have supposedly barely increased, but given the government has passed a law which allows them to label pretty much anything as secret and punishable with a 10 year jail term to report on. It's hard to know if that is true or not, I suspect not.
woodypc,
Jul 11, 4:29am
This is what happens when people "think" they know what they are talking about when it come to radiation. Basically unless the cars was inside the reactor, impossible to do, it is fine.
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 11, 4:32am
So, the Russians don't know what they are talking about, rejecting boat loads of radioactive imports and burying millions of dollars of equipment after Chernobyl.
Good to know.
ford_transit,
Jul 11, 5:23am
correct and chilling
ford_transit,
Jul 11, 5:26am
and if the reactor gets outside ?
tgray,
Jul 11, 3:36pm
Well, the 'Health Physics Society' who are specialists in radiation safety and are objective, impartial and hold PHD's in the subject, say there's nothing to worry about, regarding imported cars from Japan (Question 10792). Let's not pretend that we know better.
thejazzpianoma,
Jul 11, 3:58pm
I don't have the time to look in to this right now, but have found the page and will have a read before responding. If you have any specific links that you have read regarding used imports specifically I would be keen.
This is why I like debating with you, you usually site credible, sensible and in context sources for your side of the argument.
tgray,
Jul 11, 4:21pm
Thank you. That's the thing isn't it - healthy debate. Some people don't know how to do it without slanging each other off with personal insults etc. I am pleased to say you are not one of them and always have a well considered view. I must admit, whenever I see your user name on a post, I have to read it! Google their website and type in 10792 in the search box.
I now here that the same dealer is giving people 1 month warranty and after that saying they will not help with any repair costs. Again, very misleading.
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