Reuters reported that South Korea plans to return some steel scrap imported from Japan due to radiation contamination, the first returned shipment since Seoul heightened nuclear safety checks in 2012.

A spokeswoman at the agency said that the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission detected caesium 137 at a higher than allowed level in 20 kilograms of steel scrap out of a total 20 tonnes imported earlier this month.

The scrap's origin within Japan was unidentifiable, according to the statement. Only the 20 kilogram of scrap, now stored separately, will be returned. South Korea imports steel scraps from various countries for recycling

The commission said that it planned to ask the Japanese government to cooperate on sharing information to prevent radioactive materials from being transferred between countries.

South Korea in September of last year extended a ban on Japanese fishery imports to cover imports from eight Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima.

(Source - www.steelguru.com)