Updated at 12:53 p.m., Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Hearing set on planned fruit irradiator in Honolulu
Advertiser Staff
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a public meeting Thursday in Honolulu on a proposal by Pa'ina Hawai'i LLC to build an irradiator near Honolulu International Airport to treat fruits and vegetables for shipment.The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Ala Moana Hotel, 410 Atkinson Dr.
State officials say the irradiator will help expand agriculture on O'ahu and Kaua'i by boosting Hawai'i exports of tropical fruits and other crops. But some residents who live in the Kalihi-Palama area are alarmed at the project, and say few people know about plans for a facility that would use radioactive cobalt-60 to treat papayas and other produce.
