FUKUSHIMA UPDATE 6.1.11


Fukushima school limit: 1 millisievert

"The education ministry said Friday it has set a new nonbinding target to reduce radiation exposure of Fukushima Prefecture students while they are at school to 1 millisievert or less a year."

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Parent anger plays role in Japan's reversal of raised radiation limits at schools

"In the playground, in the sandbox, children put dirt into their mouths! They breathe in the dust! You should do the same! Lick the dirt!" she shouted to applause. "You wouldn't do this to your own kids!"

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TEPCO's Flip-Flops Increase Confusion at Fukushima

“In a series of stunning flip-flops, officials at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) have reversed themselves on several important statements made recently.”

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Radiation-linked cancer an intangible numbers game

“With contaminated produce continuing to be detected beyond Fukushima Prefecture, public concern over the health effects of radiation exposure continues to mount.
Experts agree that exposure to more than 100 millisieverts in total increases the risk of cancer. However, scientists have yet to achieve consensus about the degree of risk of contracting cancer below that level.”

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Fukushima Risks Chernobyl ‘Dead Zone’ as Radiation Soars

“Soil samples in areas outside the 20-kilometer (12 miles) exclusion zone around the Fukushima plant measured more than 1.48 million becquerels a square meter, the standard used for evacuating residents after the Chernobyl accident...”

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In Japan, a Culture That Promotes Nuclear Dependency

“When the Shimane nuclear plant was first proposed here more than 40 years ago, this rural port town put up such fierce resistance that the plant’s would-be operator, Chugoku Electric, almost scrapped the project. Angry fishermen vowed to defend areas where they had fished and harvested seaweed for generations.”

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Minister: Germany to go nuke free by 2022