Japan-Imported Cars Are Free Of Radiation, Say Toyota, Honda & Nissan

Cars imported from Japan are free of radiation, say the big three Japanese automakers, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, in response to queries by Inside Line on whether fully-imported car units will carry radiation into the U.S. from Japan. This fear of radiation arose after Japan was hit by a devastating earthquake on March 11, which led to a giant tsunami and subsequently damage to nuclear power plants.

Despite the elevated radiation levels in the surrounding of the nuclear facilities, representatives from Toyota, Honda and Nissan were quick to point out that their operations are nowhere near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the site where the nuclear crisis is unfolding. All plants are located too far from Fukushima to be affected, with the nearest being Nissan's Iwaki powertrain plant, which is approximately 50 km from Fukushima—30 km outside the 20 km safe zone radius.

Even if somehow the radiation manages to find its way onto the cars, Toyota assures that the normal procedure of plastic-wrapping the cars on the ship and washing at the processing facilities should remove any remaining radiation.

So can we assume that Japanese cars imported into Malaysia are equally safe? Well, there is no reason not to expect so. Since Malaysia's fully-imported models such as the Honda Stream, Nissan Murano and Toyota Prius are manufactured in the same plants as those going into the U.S., getting radioactive exposure from your new CBU car should be the least of your worries.