Japan's radiation monitoring unreliable: Greenpeace
TOKYO —
The environmental group said authorities were wasting time cleaning up evacuated areas and should prioritize decontamination efforts in places where people live, work and play.
Greenpeace found that in some parks and school facilities in Fukushima city, home to 285,000 people, radiation levels were above three microsieverts per hour. Japan’s recommended radiation limit is 0.23 microsieverts per hour.
Greenpeace International Energy Campaigner and radiation expert Rianne TeuleAFP
“We also found that official monitoring posts placed by the government systematically underestimate the radiation levels,” said Rianne Teule, Greenpeace’s radiation expert, adding that some machines are shielded from radiation by surrounding metal and concrete structures.
“Official monitoring stations are placed in areas the authorities have decontaminated. However, our monitoring shows that just a few steps away the radiation levels rise significantly,” she said.
“Decontamination efforts are seriously delayed and many hot spots that were repeatedly identified by Greenpeace are still there,” Teule said.
“It is especially disturbing to see that there are many hot spots around playground equipment, exposing children who are most vulnerable to radiation risks,” she said.
In tests carried out over four days last week, Greenpeace also found that radiation levels in Iitate village, where the government is hoping to soon return evacuated residents, are still many times over the limit, with decontamination efforts patchy.
Greenpeace’s Japan nuclear campaigner Kazue Suzuki said attempts to clean up were “misguided”.
“One home or office may be cleaned up, but it is very unlikely that the whole area will be freed of radiation risks within the next few years,” given the mountainous and heavily forested nature of the region, she said.
“The government continues to downplay radiation risks and give false hope (of returning home) to victims of this nuclear disaster,” said Suzuki.
A huge tsunami, sparked by a massive undersea quake, swamped the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March last year.
Reactors went into meltdown, spewing radiation over a large swathe of Japan’s agriculture-heavy northeast, in the planet’s worst atomic disaster for a generation.
The natural disaster left around 19,000 people dead or missing.
However, no one is officially recorded as having died as a direct result of the nuclear catastrophe, but thousands of people have been displaced and many livelihoods wrecked.
Scientists caution it could be decades before the plant is fully decommissioned and the areas around it are safe to live in again.
© 2012 AFP
More On The Way: Fallout Detected on Radiation Network and RadNet
On or about October 14th a significant radioactive release occurred at Fukushima. That release traveled with the Jet Stream and impacted the USA. The impact was detected on the Radiation Network in Eugene Oregon and Grand Rapids Minnesota. A detection was also indicated on EPA's RadNet in Anchorage Alaska. A recent detection in Hawaii indicate that more is on the way for CONUS. We would also expect European levels to spike near the Jet Stream as a result of both of these detections.
Here are the links to websites mentioned in the video.
Radiation Conversation on ENVIROREPORTER.COM
Alexander Higgins RadNet Compilation
The Radiation Network
Jet Stream Maps
UPDATE: 10/24/12
According to information from The Fukushima Diary, this chart from Hokkaido Japan shows a spike in airborne radiation in Hokkaido starting on 10/14/12. The trigger for that spike is likely what was detected in Oregon and Minnesota on 10/19-22/12
Japan's radiation monitoring unreliable: Greenpeace
TOKYO —
Government radiation monitoring in areas near Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is unreliable, Greenpeace charged on Tuesday, with heavily populated areas exposed to 13 times the legal limit.
The environmental group said authorities were wasting time cleaning up evacuated areas and should prioritize decontamination efforts in places where people live, work and play.
Greenpeace found that in some parks and school facilities in Fukushima city, home to 285,000 people, radiation levels were above three microsieverts per hour. Japan’s recommended radiation limit is 0.23 microsieverts per hour.
Greenpeace International Energy Campaigner and radiation expert Rianne TeuleAFP
“We also found that official monitoring posts placed by the government systematically underestimate the radiation levels,” said Rianne Teule, Greenpeace’s radiation expert, adding that some machines are shielded from radiation by surrounding metal and concrete structures.
“Official monitoring stations are placed in areas the authorities have decontaminated. However, our monitoring shows that just a few steps away the radiation levels rise significantly,” she said.
“Decontamination efforts are seriously delayed and many hot spots that were repeatedly identified by Greenpeace are still there,” Teule said.
“It is especially disturbing to see that there are many hot spots around playground equipment, exposing children who are most vulnerable to radiation risks,” she said.
In tests carried out over four days last week, Greenpeace also found that radiation levels in Iitate village, where the government is hoping to soon return evacuated residents, are still many times over the limit, with decontamination efforts patchy.
Greenpeace’s Japan nuclear campaigner Kazue Suzuki said attempts to clean up were “misguided”.
“One home or office may be cleaned up, but it is very unlikely that the whole area will be freed of radiation risks within the next few years,” given the mountainous and heavily forested nature of the region, she said.
“The government continues to downplay radiation risks and give false hope (of returning home) to victims of this nuclear disaster,” said Suzuki.
A huge tsunami, sparked by a massive undersea quake, swamped the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March last year.
Reactors went into meltdown, spewing radiation over a large swathe of Japan’s agriculture-heavy northeast, in the planet’s worst atomic disaster for a generation.
The natural disaster left around 19,000 people dead or missing.
However, no one is officially recorded as having died as a direct result of the nuclear catastrophe, but thousands of people have been displaced and many livelihoods wrecked.
Scientists caution it could be decades before the plant is fully decommissioned and the areas around it are safe to live in again.
© 2012 AFP
More On The Way: Fallout Detected on Radiation Network and RadNet
On or about October 14th a significant radioactive release occurred at Fukushima. That release traveled with the Jet Stream and impacted the USA. The impact was detected on the Radiation Network in Eugene Oregon and Grand Rapids Minnesota. A detection was also indicated on EPA's RadNet in Anchorage Alaska. A recent detection in Hawaii indicate that more is on the way for CONUS. We would also expect European levels to spike near the Jet Stream as a result of both of these detections.
Here are the links to websites mentioned in the video.
Radiation Conversation on ENVIROREPORTER.COM
Alexander Higgins RadNet Compilation
The Radiation Network
Jet Stream Maps
UPDATE: 10/24/12
According to information from The Fukushima Diary, this chart from Hokkaido Japan shows a spike in airborne radiation in Hokkaido starting on 10/14/12. The trigger for that spike is likely what was detected in Oregon and Minnesota on 10/19-22/12
Here are the links to websites mentioned in the video.
Radiation Conversation on ENVIROREPORTER.COM
Alexander Higgins RadNet Compilation
The Radiation Network
Jet Stream Maps
UPDATE: 10/24/12
According to information from The Fukushima Diary, this chart from Hokkaido Japan shows a spike in airborne radiation in Hokkaido starting on 10/14/12. The trigger for that spike is likely what was detected in Oregon and Minnesota on 10/19-22/12
Fukushima government “Radiation test of beef overrides urine test of the children”
The Fukushima Prefectural Government drew up proceedings for a health research panel prior to a formal July 2011 meeting on nuclear radiation, deciding in advance what members should say. (cf.[Mainichi] Fukushima Prefecture prepared proceedings for nuke radiation meeting)
In the manual, they made this statement.
“Considering the potential spread of WBC (Whole body counter) and the fact that germanium semiconductor detector is in excessive demand such as for beef, it is impossible to replace WBC with urine test.”
WBC is the equipment to detect gamma ray from cesium taken in body. Because it lacks accuracy and requires the testee to stay still for long time, it is not suitable for children. Urine test with germanium semiconductor detector analyzes more accurately.
However, because they wanted to use germanium semiconductor detector for the radiation test of beef, they decided not to conduct urine test of the children.
Tokyo newspaper reported on 10/25/2012:
Source:
2012 Glorious Hope - Soli Deo Gloria: Fukushima government “Radiation test of beef overr
2012 Glorious Hope - Soli Deo Gloria: More On The Way: Fallout Detected on Radiation Net...:
2012 Glorious Hope - Soli Deo Gloria: Japan's radiation monitoring unreliable: Greenpeac...:
