Research and Concealment

This government profoundly fools the people. After the research on the residents in Fukushima about their exposition to nuclear radiation, the government had been concealing the result at least for a half year. The result showed that higher radiation than long-term goal of decontamination still remained. Without providing the people with actual data of radiation, the government started returning policy in some districts inside evacuation area.

The Life Supporting Team for Sufferers of Nuclear Accident in the Cabinet Office exercised research to calculate radiation in three districts, city of Tamura and Villages of Kawauchi and Iidate, last August and September. It was done both on space radiation and actual exposition of human body to compare both results. Although the team wrapped the data up as quick as in last October, it did not disclose how much the residents received nuclear radiation.

While the team explained that the result was in interim condition and should not be open until final data would be determined, the government required the people in one of those researching places, City of Tamura, whether they would go back home or not, after the evacuation order was lifted early this month. In short, the government offered returning home without accurate data on radiation.

According final data that the government reluctantly revealed with request of the media, radiation in three districts were mostly higher than the threshold of 1 milli-Siebert per year for long-term goal of decontamination efforts. In Miyakoji area of Tamura City, the radiation marked 2.3 mSv for forestry workers, 0.9 to 1.2 mSv for farmers and 0.7 for teachers. It jumped up in Kawauchi and Iidate. Radiation for forestry workers in Kawauchi was 5.5.mSv and 2.1 mSv for old agers. In Iidate, the research found highest amount of 17 mSv for forestry workers and 11.2 mSv for teachers.

International Atomic Energy Agency drew a line on 20 mSv per year as the threshold of acceptable exposition to radiation. There is an argument that those places in Fukushima are safe enough for living. However, the argument is something ongoing in Tokyo, where natural radiation is as low as 0.2 mSv. Most people in Fukushima do not allow 20 mSv threshold on that high man-made radiation.

Knowing that kind of sentiment in Fukushima, the government tried to back off the data not to bring “panic” on the people. But it was that government which created panic criticisms when they concealed the data of radiation calculator in Fukushima right after the accident in the nuclear power plant three years ago. People fell in a panic in looking for the place to escape from radioactive fallings. The government has learned nothing from their own experience. There is no government wiser than its people.