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Radioactive radials hot property

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia - Police in this Pacific Ocean port have confiscated a shipping container from Japan that had dozens of radioactive car tyres in it.

The Interfax news agency reported on Thursday that 29 tyres in the shipment were emitting excess levels of gamma and beta rays, making them unsafe to bring into Russia.

HAZARDOUS WASTE

"There's a good chance the radioactive tyres are a result of the Fukushima accident," said Ivan Skogorev, a safety inspector.

The tyres' owner might have them decontaminated, shipped backed to Japan, or buried in a hazardous waste site in Russia but the shipment's consignee had not come forward.

Vladivostok custom officials in April halted a batch of 49 radioactive automobiles exported from Japan, some of which were found to emit dangerous isotopes at six times safe levels. A similar incident was reported in June.

Russia's Far Eastern region is a major consumer of used Japanese cars.

Japan's Fukushima nuclear power station suffered a series of nuclear meltdowns as a result of an earthquake.
   

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