ARI Becquerel Center

A place to measure radioactive substances in food and soil is now open!

Asian Rural Institute (ARI) installed a machine to measure radioactive substances in food and soil at Nasu Seminar House (adjacent to ARI) by the help of JEDRO, a Christian organization which works for the Great East Japan Earthquake relief in Japan. If you are concerned about your food and soil, bring them to ARI Becquerel Center!

- Place : Nasu Seminar House (420-22 Tsukinokizawa, Nasushiobara)
TEL: 0287-48-7045 (reservation-only line)
Staff in charge: Mr. Yamashita

- Fee : 2,000 yen (including tax) per item
Time required per item: 40 min. (10 Min. for preparation, 20 min. for measuring)

Low contaminated (supposedly) water and milk can be accepted for a regular fee (2,000 yen.) In this case, measuring time will be 30 min. If you wish 12-hour measuring, we will accept it for 5,000 yen (maximum 3 items per week).

- Reservation will be made by telephone only during the following time:
10 am to 12:30 pm 1 pm to 4 pm

- Opening hours are from Tuesday to Sunday. No service on Mondays.

- Type of machine ?BERTHOLD LB2045 (made in Germany)
Gamma rays emitted from Cesium 34/137 and Potassium 40 will be measured

Note (Please read this carefully before making a reservation)

1. Machine: BERTHOLD LB2045

The BERTHOLD LB2045 is capable tof measuring radioactive substances precisely by measuring Gamma energy emitted from radio isotopes. the same type of machines were installed in many different Becquerel Centers in Japan such as Kashiwa city. However, this machine is not certified by the Japanese Government or any other public institution. Therefore, we will not issue a certification for measuring.

2. Measurement
Presently, the sum of Cesium 134 and 137, and Potassium 40 (the latter being a natural radioactive substance) are measured. We are not measuring Iodine 131. Potassium 40 exists in nature which we have been consuming even before the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. We measure Potassium 40 in order to measure the amount of Cesium more precisely.

We will do our best in the maintenance of the machine, such as daily proofing and cleaning of the measuring containers. However, please take the result as your reference since the figure may have some error range due to the short measuring time and other conditions. We recommend you to stay and observe the measuring if time allows.

3. How to bring items to be measured

1)	The volume of a measuring container is 350 cc. Please put enough volume of the item to be measured in a clean and soft plastic bag ?20cm?25cm wide x 25cm?30cm long?. Remove the air inside the bag as much as possible and close it tightly.
2)	When you bring liquid, put it in a clean pet bottle.
3)	In case of a solid item such as vegetable, cut it into small pieces by a food processor or a knife.
4)	In case of soil, dry it well under the sun or by fire before you bring. Also when you sample soil, do it under certain rules (e.g. depth 5cm or 10 cm).
5)	No urine is accepted.
6)	Keep your reservation time. Please try to come 10 min. before your reservation time. If you are late, it will affect the next person.

4. Personal Information and privacy
We will ask you to fill out personal information form that includes your address, name and contact numbers. In keeping your personal information, we will keep the law and do our best to secure your privacy. We will use your personal information when we need to contact you and will never release it without your consent.