[drchernish]

I came upon an article in news press than russian ports have cars standing in their ports which have been imported post nuclear radiation leak after the tsunami there,and they are having radiation 6-7 times above normal levels.Now they are in a fix as to what to do with these cars (in the photos i could see Toyota SUV),either send them back or to treat them with some reagent which will make the radiation level go down.
Now we are also getting many cars from Japan in ckd form and many cars parts are also being imported-are they being checked for Radiation or there is as usual chalta hai attitude from Indian govt?

[sidindica]

More than the government, its first the manufacturers' responsibility to ensure that all imported cars are safe. Hope they adhere to it. Don't expect anything from the GOI.

[mdsaab]

Whoa. That really is a point of concern. Its good to see the Russian govt taking precautionary methods and not just releasing these cars onto the roads. Hopefully our govt will do the same. As it is new cars emit toxins which are hazerdous to our health. Adding to this quite high radiation levels will only male things worst. But knowing the Japanese, after reading about this. They are bound to take action and make sure there cars are delivered radiation free.

[drchernish]

well they delivered it to Russia without checking and they may well deliver it to India.main concern is not ckd cars but parts that may have been exposed to radiation and are being installed in cars that are being sold by thousands per month in our country.100% localised cars are very few-rest have something or other expensive part which are still being imported.Mods can help by making a list of such cars.Going by the present state of affairs in Japan i think they will try to export each and everything they make or they have made.Goverment has banned food import from japan but i hope they realize that not only food items can absorb and emit radiation.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by sidindica

More than the government, its first the manufacturers' responsibility to ensure that all imported cars are safe. Hope they adhere to it. Don't expect anything from the GOI.

Indian customers get a different treatment from the manufacturers are mostly because of the chalta hai attitude of the government. So I really dont think the manufacturers will bother even if its actually their responsibility. If they happened to, then they need to treated like a KING !!

[phamilyman]

Given half lives of a few hours/couple of days, i doubt anything would have significant radiation left by the time it reaches Indian shores and clears indian customs!

[JustCause]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Given half lives of a few hours/couple of days, i doubt anything would have significant radiation left by the time it reaches Indian shores

I seriously doubt that. Metals have radiation storing capacity. Cars in & around Chernobyl still have lethal amounts of radiation in them & given that Fukushima disaster is on the same level as the former, it is a question of ethics on Japan's part whether they will ship the 'dosed' cars to Asia Pacific countries or not (as the EU & the USA would already have strict policies in place).

[libranof1987]

To begin with, did Japan still have cars being exported while it was going through the disaster?

Looking at the pictures of various assembly plants, it didn't look like Japan had cars or was capable of exporting cars. So, how did Russia receive cars exposed to radiation?

If India is receiving cars though and they have a hint of radiation exposure, be sure to find them on the road. I doubt the GOI will care a damn about it.

Also, how sure would a chemical treatment be to a vehicle having traces of radiation. It would have to be treated with something liquid and in the process, screw the vehicles' electronics.

[bluevolt]

I don't think so GOI ever thought of this. There may be some more imports beyond automobiles. Do Japanese companies like Toyota/Honda/Suzuki manufactures their cars like Civic/Corolla/Kizashi in India or do they import them straightaway? While the second seems highly unlikely, may be some parts are imported from japan (like engine)?

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by bluevolt

I don't think so GOI ever thought of this. There may be some more imports beyond automobiles. Do Japanese companies like Toyota/Honda/Suzuki manufactures their cars like Civic/Corolla/Kizashi in India or do they import them straightaway? While the second seems highly unlikely, may be some parts are imported from japan (like engine)?

As far as I know, Kizashi is a CBU straight from Japan. And for some of the other cars, I guess there are some parts that are imported [CKD]. Not sure what all cars thought - I guess Nissan Xtrail ?

[raul]

We have to concede we are casual about these things, while developed economies with already have entire teams working on how to manage the fallout of imports from Japan and all sorts of regulations in place which will actually work, we will probably have a last minute reaction to this, if the media raises a ruckus or if something wrong is identified in a one off case all sorts of debates and discussion will happen about government inefficiency and incompetence and new processes will be put in place.

[designersf]

Japanese auto manufacturers have voluntarily started screening their cars for traces of radiation. This was confirmed. They started doing this more than a week ago. So its safe enough to buy Japanese imports.

Japan to begin radiation checks on export cars to combat rumors

News about Nissan voluntarily checking its models

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Given half lives of a few hours/couple of days, i doubt anything would have significant radiation left by the time it reaches Indian shores and clears indian customs!

Iodine-131 has a half life of 8 days. Plutonium has 15 isotopes. The longest-lived is plutonium 244, which takes 80.8 million years to decay to half its level of radioactivity. The most commonly-used isotopes -- and those found at Fukushima -- are plutonium 238, with a half life of 88 years; plutonium 239, with a half life of 24,000 years; and plutonium 240, with a half life of 6,500 years

[sarmarishi]

It is a grave concern not only to the buyers but also to the people handling these imports. Someone really needs to get this across to Rajdeep Sardesai or someone of that sort and get some media attention on this else no one is going to do anything about it. The cars will be sold, they will come into our parking lots and kids playing around in the apartments will mainly get affected.

Maybe the Mods can help getting some attention on this!

[designersf]

Originally Posted by sarmarishi

It is a grave concern not only to the buyers but also to the people handling these imports. Someone really needs to get this across to Rajdeep Sardesai or someone of that sort and get some media attention on this else no one is going to do anything about it. The cars will be sold, they will come into our parking lots and kids playing around in the apartments will mainly get affected.

Maybe the Mods can help getting some attention on this!

Please read my post above.

[sgiitk]

I would not bother. I will rather live next to Tarapore than any of the older hydel dams. I am told that Bhahra top surfrace has moved anout 4cm from its original level. Also, at that time earthquake engineering was in its infancy at best. On the other hand I hear that Tehri has been designed for a Richter 8 quake.