Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Saturday, September 3, 2011
Or at their site: http://www.blind-film.net/
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Monday, August 29, 2011
The worker was in his 40s. At Fukushima I, his work included manning the rest area and radiation control of the workers. There was no abnormal reading of white blood cells before he started to work at Fukushima I. He worked for about a week in August, and fell ill. He was diagnosed with acute leukemia, and died at the hospital. His company reported his death to TEPCO on August 16.
TEPCO's Matsumoto emphasized that the death was a private matter, and TEPCO had no intention of investigating it further now that the doctor denied any relationship between the death and the work at Fukushima I.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman
(H/T Tokyo Brown Tabby)
(UPDATE) A Fukushima prefectural assemblyman tweeted a few days ago that Dr. Yamashita was "removed from the post", and some English sites may have misunderstood what he wrote. According to the later clarification by the assemblyman, Dr. Yamashita is no longer in charge of radiation protection, but still fully in charge of health monitoring and follow-up research of the Fukushima residents.
It seems he has simply moved on from preaching safety as a radiation protection advisor to health monitoring after the radiation exposure. There is no official word on Fukushima Prefecture's website at all.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Monday, August 15, 2011
On a separate, culturally-correct "rumor", the Japan Buddhist Federation may be planning to organize a nationwide ceremony whereby the debris in the disaster-affected areas in Tohoku will be burned to pray for the spirit of the dead at its member temples throughout Japan.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Friday, August 12, 2011
原因不明の白血球低下、頭痛、嘔吐増えてます。既存の診断名つけられて治療しても効果なしのケースうちの病院でもみかけます。もちろん全部放射能の影響というつもりはありませんが、これも事実です。
Increasing number of patients with unexplainable decrease in white blood cells, headache, nausea. They are diagnosed for existing illness and undergo treatment, but they don't respond to the treatment at all. I've seen those cases in my hospital. I'm not saying they are all because of the radiation exposure, but I'm telling you what I'm seeing.
患者さん洗髪すると、髪が束になってごっそり抜けます。それを見るたびほんとに怖いです。「なーんで白血球下がってるんだろうなーーー」なんてのんきにいってる場合ですか先生。治療できない人がこれから増えていきますよ。
When we wash their hair, it comes off in a clump. It is really scary. The doctor says, "I really wonder why the white blood cell count is down..." Doctor, don't be so relaxed about it. There is going to be more and more people who don't respond to treatment.
She suspects internal radiation from hospital meals, which the in-patients have no choice but eat.
The Japanese government can now create another "Special District for Medical Research" in Miyagi Prefecture, in addition to the one in Fukushima.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Sunday, July 31, 2011
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Thursday, July 21, 2011
放射性物質が人体に与える影響を検討していた食品安全委員会の作業部会で２１日、「発がん影響が明らかになるのは、生涯の累積線量で１００ミリシー ベルト以上」とする事務局案が示された。食品だけでなく、外部環境からの被曝（ひばく）を含む。平時から浴びている自然由来の放射線量は除いた。この案を 軸に来週にも最終結論を出し、厚生労働省に答申する。ただ厚労省からは「基準づくりは難航しそうだ」と、戸惑いの声があがっている。
The working group of the Food Safety Commission that has been considering the effect of radioactive materials on humans disclosed the plan of the secretariat that would say "The cancer-causing effect of radiation becomes only noticeable at and above 100 millisieverts of lifetime cumulative radiation." The number includes not just the internal radiation from food but also external radiation exposure from the environment. It does not count the natural radiation exposure. Based on this secretariat's plan the Commission will come up with its final plan and submit it to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare next week. However, there are those at the Ministry who worry that it won't be easy to create a new standard.東京電力福島第一原発事故を受け、厚労省は３月１７日に食品衛生法に基づき、放射性物質に汚染された食品の流通を規制する暫定基準を設定。この基準の科学的根拠を得るため、食品からの被曝による健康影響評価を同委に諮問していた。
In response to the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare set the provisional safety standards on March 17 to regulate the sale of food items contaminated with radioactive materials. Then, it asked the Commission to evaluate the effect of internal radiation exposure from food on human health, in order to scientifically justify the provisional safety standards.
同委は当初、食品だけからの被曝レベルを検討。国際放射線防護委員会（ＩＣＲＰ）勧告の元になった論文を含め、様々な国際的な研究を精査した。だが食品 とその他の被曝を分けて論じた論文は少なく、「健康影響を内部と外部の被曝に分けては示せない」と判断。外部被曝も含め、生涯受ける放射線の総量を示す方 向を打ち出した。宇宙からの放射線など平時から浴びている自然放射線量（日本で平均、年間約１．５ミリシーベルト）は除く。
The Commission at first tried to come up with the radiation limit from food only, and carefully studied various international research papers including the paper which became the basis for the ICRP recommendation. However, there were few papers that discussed the radiation from food separately from all the other radiation, and the Commission decided it was not possible to show the effect of radiation on health by separating internal and external exposures. Instead, the Commission will set the lifetime cumulative amount of radiation allowable, which includes external radiation exposure. It will exclude the natural radiation exposure from cosmic rays, etc., which is about 1.5 millisievert per year average in Japan.
生涯の累積線量を目安に考えるということは、例えば、緊急時に一時的に２０ミリシーベルトを浴びたら、残りの生涯で被曝を８０ミリシーベルト以下に抑えるのが望ましいとするものだ。
In considering the lifetime cumulative radiation, if one is exposed to 20 millisieverts of radiation in a short time in an emergency, then it will be desirable if the radiation exposure is under 80 millisieverts for the rest of one's life.
また、子どもや胎児については成人より影響を受けやすいという研究があり、事務局案では「留意が必要」としている。
There are studies that show children and fetuses are more susceptible to radiation exposure, and the secretariat's plan calls for "an attention".
ＩＣＲＰの考え方では「１００ミリシーベルトを浴びると、発がんリスクが０．５％上がる」とされる。
According to the ICRP, "The cancer risk goes up by 0.5% with 100 millisieverts exposure."
外部被曝も含めた形で結論を出すことに委員の一人は「本来は原子力安全委員会など他の政府機関でやるべきだが、他がやっていないので仕方ない」と話す。
As to deciding on a new standard that includes external exposure, one commissioner said "It should be done by other government organization like the Nuclear Safety Commission, but no one is doing it. So we have to do it."
緊急時を想定した現行の暫定基準は、食品からの年間被曝量をヨウ素やセシウムなど核種ごとに割り当て、全体で年１７ミリシーベルトを超えないように設定されている。
The current provisional safety standards for foods is for an emergency situation. A safety limit is decided per different nuclide (iodine, cesium, etc) so that and the combined total radiation exposure from food does not exceed 17 millisieverts per year.
食品安全委の答申が出れば、厚労省は食品ごとの基準を改めて検討することになる。担当者は「年間被曝量で答申されると想定していた。生涯累積線量だと、若者から高齢者まで年代ごとに摂取量を考えなければならず、作業に時間がかかりそうだ」と話した。
Once the conclusion by the Food Safety Commission is submitted, then the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will have to reconsider the safety limit per food. The person in charge of the process said, "We thought they would give us the number as annual radiation exposure limit. If it is going to be the lifetime cumulative radiation exposure limit, it may take a long time as we will have to consider different food intake amount for different age groups, from young to old."
The government-funded researchers and scholars are already busy imprinting this number "100 millisieverts" in the minds of the populace. The reference to X-rays and CT-scans are back. No need to worry up till 100 millisieverts!
Now, does anyone know how much radiation that the residents in Fukushima, Tohoku or Kanto have gotten since March 11? No one does. Are all vegetables in the market tested? No. They only sample one item from one plot from one farm in one city, and if that passes the test the entire crop from the entire city is considered safe.
Radioactive beef? What radioactive beef? The government will buy the meat and burn it, satisfied? Schoolyards with radiation exceeding 1 microsieverts/hour? So? Don't come complaining unless it's above 3.6 microsieverts/hour. All our experts say there's no danger below 100 millisieverts! If you are exposed to 20 millisieverts this year, well you will have 80 millisieverts for the rest of your life (we don't know how long) to spend, so don't worry.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Monday, July 11, 2011
We actively purchase farm products from Fukushima Prefecture for our company's cafeterias and dormitories. (Purchased since March 28.)
The company has the dormitories for bachelors.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman
Air samples taken on the 2nd and 3rd floor still have slight amount of iodine-131, and a lot of radioactive cesium. The measurement unit is becquerels per cubic centimeter.
TEPCO says the radiation is too high for human workers (up to 50 millisieverts/hour), which is a bit odd considering the company didn't have any problem sending in human workers into Reactor 1 which had the radiation level as high as 1,000 millisieverts/hour (or 1 sievert/hour) on the 2nd floor of the reactor building, and the 1st floor was not much better.
But that was back in the beginning of May. TEPCO's sudden unwillingness to have the workers risk radiation indicates to me that the company may be running thin on skilled workers with low radiation exposure, both at TEPCO and affiliate companies, and wants to conserve on the radiation dose for them. In the press conference on July 10 (morning), I heard them say they are not letting workers continue to work once they exceed 150 millisieverts of cumulative radiation exposure, even if the regulation has been relaxed to 250 millisieverts after the accident.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Friday, July 8, 2011
東京電力福島第１原発事故を受け、福島県の放射線健康管理リスクアドバイザーを務めている長崎大大学院の山下俊一教授（５９）が１１日付で長崎大を 休職し、今月中旬にも福島県立医科大に出向し副学長に就任する見通しになった。６日、長崎大大学院医歯薬学総合研究科の教授会で内定した。
Professor Shunichi Yamashita (age 59) of Nagasaki University, who has been the advisor for the Fukushima Prefecture on radiation health risks in response to the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, will take a leave of absence from Nagasaki University as of July 11 and become the vice president of the Fukushima Medical University sometime in mid July. It was decided on July 6 in the faculty meeting at Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. [Professor Yamashita is the dean of the school.]山下教授は長崎市出身の被爆２世。８６年の旧ソ連チェルノブイリ原発事故の医療支援に当たった。世界保健機関（ＷＨＯ）の緊急被ばく医療協力研究センター長などを務める。
Professor Yamashita is from Nagasaki City, a "Hibaku Nisei" (2nd generation sufferer of atomic bomb radiation). He was active in medical support when the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant accident took place in 1986. He was also the head of the research center for emergency radiation exposure under the WHO.
原発事故直後の３月１８日に福島県知事に請われ現地に入り、放射線について「正しく怖がる」大切さを講演して回っている。同県が県民約２０２万人 を対象に実施する被ばく線量調査にも参加。同県立大では調査を継続的に行う他、放射線の影響を研究する組織の設立に携わる予定。
He was invited to Fukushima by the governor of Fukushima on March 18 right after the plant accident, and has been giving lectures on the importance of "being properly afraid" of radiation. He will participate in the radiation exposure survey of all 2.02 million residents of Fukushima. At the Fukushima Medical University, he will continue the radiation surveys and will be involved in setting up an organization to study the effect of radiation.
The media (and Professor Yamashita) never fails to mention that he is a "Hibaku Nisei" (second-generation of the people who were exposed to radiation from atomic bombs). There are many others who go about their lives without advertising it or wearing it as some kind of credential for their work (like Professor Yamashita does all the time).
An anonymous reader of my Japanese blog sent the link to this article, along with his comment:
さぞ研究対象が目の前に溢れるほどいて笑いが止まらない事でしょう。
"He will be all smiles with such a great number of research subjects right in front of him, I suppose."
To review Professor Yamashita's remarks in front of a worried Fukushima City audience, go to my post. There's a youtube video with English subtitles, linked below. Just look at his mannerism as he blatantly lies to the audience when he assures "internal radiation is far less damaging than external radiation".
The funny and immensely sad thing about the video is not so much of the video itself, but the comments left on the site that has this video. Instead of attacking the professor, they attack the persons who created and uploaded the video for being an America's agent (because English is used, supposedly) or for using a junior high school level English and speculate the creator probably can't even read the Times. (I don't know which Times they mean - NYT or the British paper - but they probably don't even know the difference.)
(What's wrong with a junior high school English? That's all I use...)
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Friday, July 1, 2011
There will be chaos and scandal when the rice is harvested in the fall, as it will contain radioactive materials;
Japan is looking like a developing country in East Asia without democracy;
The government uses the high ceiling for radiation in schools so that it doesn't need to spend money to ameliorate the situation;
The government hasn't done enough to investigate ocean contamination.
So far, I am unable to find the equivalent Japanese article in the Japanese version of WSJ. Interesting by itself, but not surprising as the paper has put out dramatically different versions of the same news in Japanese and in English.
From WSJ (Yuka Hayashi, 7/1/2011):
TOKYO—A former nuclear adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan blasted the government's continuing handling of the crisis, and predicted further revelations of radiation threats to the public in the coming months.
In his first media interview since resigning his post in protest in April, Toshiso Kosako, one of the country's leading experts on radiation safety, said Mr. Kan's government has been slow to test for possible dangers in the sea and to fish and has understated certain radiation dangers to minimize what it will have to spend to clean up contamination.
And while there have been scattered reports already of food contamination—of tea leaves and spinach, for example—Mr. Kosako said there will be broader, more disturbing discoveries later this year, especially as rice, Japan's staple, is harvested.
"Come the harvest season in the fall, there will be a chaos," Mr. Kosako said. "Among the rice harvested, there will certainly be some radiation contamination—though I don't know at what levels—setting off a scandal. If people stop buying rice from Tohoku, …we'll have a tricky problem."
Mr. Kosako also said that the way the government has handled the Fukushima Daiichi situation since the March 11 tsunami crippled the reactors has exposed basic flaws in Japanese policymaking. "The government's decision-making mechanism is opaque," he said. "It's never clear what reasons are driving what decisions. This doesn't look like a democratic society. Japan is increasingly looking like a developing nation in East Asia."
Specifically, Mr. Kosako said the government set a relatively high ceiling for acceptable radiation in schoolyards, so that only 17 schools exceeded that limit. If the government had set the lower ceiling he had advocated, thousands of schools would have required a full cleanup. With Mr. Kan's ruling party struggling to gain parliamentary approval for a special budget, the costlier option didn't get traction.
"When taking these steps, the only concern for the current government is prolonging its own life," Mr. Kosako said.
Mr. Kan's office referred questions about Mr. Kosako's remarks to a cabinet office official, who declined to be identified. The official said the government is making "utmost efforts" to improve radiation monitoring in the sea and working closely with fishermen and others.
"Particularly close attention is paid to the safety of rice as Japan's staple food," the official said, adding that the government would suspend the shipment of crops if radiation exceeding a set standard is detected.
As for schools, the official said the government was working to lower the ceiling for acceptable radiation, and "is also considering additional steps. "
Mr. Kosako, a 61-year-old Tokyo University professor who has served on a number government and industrial panels, stepped down from Mr. Kan's nuclear-advisory panel on April 30, fueling concerns about the government's handling of the accident. Saying that many of his recommendations were ignored, the scientist described the government's ceiling on schoolyard radiation levels as "unacceptable." The image of him wiping tears at a press conference as he said he wouldn't subject his own children to such an environment was widely broadcast.
Having spent the past two months focusing on teaching radiation-safety courses at his university, Mr. Kosako said he is now ready to begin speaking his mind again, starting with foreign audiences. Over the coming weeks, he will be giving speeches in the U.S. and in Taiwan.
He said he is especially concerned with contamination of the ocean by the large amounts radioactive material from the damaged reactors dumped into surrounding waters. The government has released only sketchy information about what's drained into the sea as a result of efforts to cool the smoldering Fukushima Daiichi reactors. Mr. Kosako has urged more seawater monitoring, more projections of the spread of polluted water and steps to deal with the contamination of different types of seafood, from seaweed to shellfish to fish.
"I've been telling them to hurry up and do it, but they haven't," he said.
As he resigned, Mr. Kosako submitted to government officials a thick booklet that contained all the recommendations he had offered during his six-week tenure. A copy of the booklet was obtained by The Wall Street Journal from an independent source.
From the time of his appointment on March 16, Mr. Kosako and some of his colleagues were offering recommendations touching on a broad range of topics. It was weeks before the public learned of some of them, such as a March 17 call for using the government's SPEEDI radiation-monitoring system to project residents' exposure levels using the "worst-case scenario based on a practical setting."
On March 18, they urged the government's Nuclear Safety Commission to re-examine the adequacy of the government's initial evacuation zones, based on such simulations by SPEEDI.
The SPEEDI data weren't released to the public until March 23, and the evacuation zones weren't adjusted until April 11. Critics say the delay in the adjustment may have subjected thousands of Fukushima residents to high levels of radiation exposure.
Professor Kosako had been considered a pro-nuke "government scientist" until his resignation. Maybe he is still pro-nuke, but it was during his press conference at the end of April when he announced resignation that many people were made aware of this thing called WSPEEDI, which can predict radioactive fallout dispersions globally, not just Japan. Only after that revelation by the professor, the government decided to quietly sneak in the WSPEEDI simulation results sometime in mid May on the Ministry of Education website. They showed a very extensive contamination in Tohoku and Kanto.
For WSPEEDI simulation maps from the early days of the accident when, if disclosed, they would have mattered, see my posts here and here.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Thursday, June 30, 2011
Conclusion: A small radiation is good for your health
There are two sides to radiation.
Small dose: Like an angel's smile (even at 50 millisieverts/year)
Large dose in short time: Like a devil's violence
From now on, the number of cancer patients in Fukushima will decrease.
Food items with a small amount of radiation will fetch "premium".
Fukushima Prefecture will be the Number One health land in Japan, and people will flock to Fukushima.
Our future is bright.
Like Disneyland, I suppose.
His conclusion is that Fukushima has "an angel's smile", i.e. almost harmless, if not beneficial, small amount of radiation.
Looking at his presentation, he seems to have come to the conclusion because:
Fukushima has received a small amount of radiation when it rained on March 15 and radioactive iodine and cesium that were in the air fell on the ground with the rain because of the events on March 14 and 15 (Reactors 2, 3, 4 had explosions) that released a relatively large amount of radioactive materials;
Now it's mostly only cesium on the surface emitting gamma rays;
They will never know the radiation exposure level in Fukushima until actually measured;
There are people living in the places with high radiation; and
There are data to prove that the long-term radiation exposure of 50 millisieverts/year decreases the number of cancer cases.
He tells us to just think of it as soaking in a radium [radon] hot spring (hormesis effect), particularly if we're over 40.
Still, the doctor thinks that the community should do everything to protect children. His suggestion? Surround them with lead panels that will block radiation. (Lead poisoning anyone?)
What we can do for children:
Remove surface soil from schoolyards.
Put up lead panels on classroom walls.
Shorten the commute time to and from school.
Drive children to school, and school should allow cars inside the school gate.
Shield children's room in the house with lead.
Shield children's bed with lead.
If these measures cannot avoid 1 millisievert/year radiation exposure, then consider relocating children.
It seems to me to be infinitely better not to use lead panels around children and simply relocate them first, but I am no doctor.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Wednesday, June 29, 2011
.......
The major preliminary findings of this research have been already presented at various public events organized in Fukushima city (Lecture on May 29th, press conference on May 30th ) and Tokyo (Press conferences on May 31st and June 1st, Audience at the Congress on June 1st, lecture and workshop on radiation monitoring on June 2nd). These findings and statements aresummarized below.
A more complete scientific report will be made available in the forthcoming weeks following analysis of soil and food samples returned to the CRIIRAD laboratory.
1 / Lack of appropriate information and protection against harmful effects of radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accidents
Since March 12th, the damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactors and pools containing spent fuel have released huge amounts of radioactive substances in both the atmosphere and the ocean. According to official data, the most important radioactive releases in the atmosphere occurred between March 12Th and March 30th .
The Japanese government requested the evacuation of the inhabitants within a 20-km radius and indoor confinement for people living within a 20 to 30-km radius. But these countermeasures have revealed to be largely insufficient :
1. The people living outside the 20-km radius should have been evacuated according to wind direction and meteorological conditions. Winds and radioactive particles do not abide by administrative policies.
2. Confinement is efficient only in case of minor doses when the contamination of the air lasts over a short period of time. In the case of Fukushima Daiichi, the radioactive releases in the atmosphere persisted over several days (and are still occurring, though on a much lower level). Under such circumstances, confinement is not efficient due to the exchange rate between outside and inside air. The air inside the buildings will be contaminated at a level comparable to the outside air quality.
3. Stable iodine tablets are useful to reduce the absorption of radioactive iodine and therefore limit the risks of thyroid cancer particularly among young children. This risk is well-known since the Chernobyl accident. In order to be fully effective, iodine tablets must be ingested several hours before contamination occurs. In Japan, iodine tablets were not distributed proficiently. Testimonies collated during the CRIIRAD’s mission in Japan indicate that several local authorities, at municipal levels, opted to distribute iodine pills, as in the case of the city of Miaru [Miharu-machi] where the Mayor decided to distribute pills to his inhabitants on March 15th requiring them to actually ingest them. This initiative has been criticized by the Fukushima prefecture authorities. In Iwaki, a civic administrator was ready to organize the distribution of iodine tablets since March 12th. While the municipality was able to distribute the iodine tablets to the citizens on March 18th, people have been told not to take the pills unless expressly ordered to do so by the authorities...the instruction to ingest the pills was not issued. Other highly exposed inhabitants (like those living in Iitate) have not been issued any iodine tablets.
4. In case of radioactive releases in the atmosphere, the fallout on the ground will rapidly contaminate the food chain, in particular leafy vegetables and milk. The Japanese authorities decided to launch a special monitoring program only as of March 18Th. The first results revealed a massive contamination on several food samples. As an example, spinach sampled in Ibaraki prefecture on March 18th confirmed a contamination of 54 000 Bq/kg with iodine 131. The CRIIRAD calculated that for a child aged between 2 to 7 years old, the consumption of 200 grams of spinach delivers a dose exceeding the annual dose limit of 1 milliSievert. Additional results published later showed that iodine 131 contamination found in grass collected in Iitate about 40 km north-west of Fukushima Daiichi reached 2.5 million Bq/kg. The contamination of vegetables in the area has certainly been very high. It should be noted that for a child aged 2 to 7 years old, the mere consumption of 5 grams of such foods will deliver a dose exceeding 1 milliSievert. The authorities should have advised people, without delay on March 12TH , not to consume foods most at risk in areas where the radioactive fallouts were detected by gamma air dose monitors (this includes locations such as Onagawa, 100 km north of Fukushima, and Tokyo about 230 km south of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant). Conversely, the Japanese authorities claimed that consuming such contaminated foods was the same as receiving a dose from a scanner.........
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
政府の原子力災害対策本部は２８日、東京電力福島第一原子力発電所の事故による福島県民の被曝ひばく調査に、放射性物質の拡散予測を行う国のシステム「ＳＰＥＥＤＩ（スピーディ）」を利用すると発表した。
The Japanese government's headquarters for the nuclear disaster countermeasures announced on June 28 that the SPEEDI system will be used for the survey of the Fukushima residents to determine the radiation exposure after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. The SPEEDI system is designed to forecast the dispersion of the radioactive materials.事故初期の３月１２日から１６日までの空間線量率を計算し、外部被曝の調査に役立てる。
The government will use SPEEDI to calculate the air radiation levels from March 12 to March 16 to help determine the external radiation exposure for the residents.
福島第一原発事故では、東日本大震災の影響で放射性物質の計測機器の多くが作動せず、３月１７日に移動式機器などで計測を再開するまで空間線量率が不明だった。
Many radiation monitoring stations did not work after the March 11 earthquake, and the air radiation levels were not known until March 17 when the portable monitoring stations were used to measure radiation.
スピーディで放射性物質の放出量などを計算して、１時間ごとの放射線量地図を作成し、県民の行動範囲と照合して個人の外部被曝量を計算する。
The government will use SPEEDI to calculate the amount of radioactive materials released and create the hourly radiation contour maps, then calculate the personal external radiation level for each resident by figuring out where he/she was during that period.
地図の作成・公表に約２週間、被曝量の算定に１か月程度を見込んでいる。
The government thinks it will take about 2 weeks to create and publish the maps, and one month to calculate the individual radiation levels.
The Japanese taxpayers footed the bill for this costly system so that it could predict the radioactive material dispersion in case of a nuclear accident AND warn them in advance. Having failed miserably in that task (thanks to the government who supposedly feared panic and/or couldn't release the simulations because they were just, well, simulations), now it will be used to tell people how much radiation they have been exposed, after the fact.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Tuesday, June 21, 2011
He says that mothers, even mothers exposed to 100 millisieverts, pregnant mothers, will not have any effect, health effect. Remember the number 100. Compared to that, the Soviet Union required a mandatory evacuation during Chernobyl at five millisieverts. This doctor is quoted as saying, “The effects of radiation do not come to people that are happy and laughing. They come to people that are weak-spirited, that brood and fret.”
Well, that and so much more.
The reference that the Democracy Now guest made in the program is part of his hilarious lecture about radiation and its effect on health, delivered on March 21, 2011 in front of the large, and worried audience in Fukushima City, 60 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuke Plant, 2 days after he was appointed as the official radiation advisor to Fukushima Prefecture.
Fukushima City is the same city where Greenpeace detected cobalt-60 on June 7.
Also recall that March 21 was is one of the days that saw a large spike in air radiation throughout Kanto and Tohoku region, for reasons still not disclosed.
From the lecture on March 21 in Fukushima City, toward the end, before the Q&A session:
Original Japanese audio
Japanese transcript of the event
これから福島という名前は世界中に知れ渡ります。福島、福島、福島、何でも福島。これは凄いですよ。もう、広島・長崎は負けた。福島の名前の方が世界に冠たる響きを持ちます。ピンチはチャンス。最大のチャンスです。何もしないのに福島、有名になっちゃったぞ。これを使わん手はない。何に使う。復興です
The name "Fukushima" will be widely known throughout the world. Fukushima, Fukushima, Fukushima, everything is Fukushima. This is great! Fukushima has beaten Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From now on, Fukushima will become the world number 1 name [when it comes to radiation/nuclear incident]. A crisis is an opportunity. This is the biggest opportunity. Hey, Fukushima, you've become famous without any efforts! [a chuckle from the audience] Why
not take advantage of this opportunity? For what? Recovery.
まず。震災、津波で亡くなられた方々。本当に心からお悔やみを申し上げますし、この方々に対する対応と同時に、一早く原子力災害から復興する必要があります。国の根幹をなすエネルギー政策の原子力がどうなるか、私にはわかりません。しかし、健康影響は微々たるものだと言えます。唯一、いま決死の覚悟で働いている方々の被ばく線量、これを注意深く保障していく必要があります。ただ、一般の住民に対する不安はありません。
First off, my sincere condolences for people who died in the earthquake and tsunami. We need to deal with the loss, and to recover from this nuclear disaster. I don't know how it [the nuke accident] will affect the nuclear energy policy of the national government, as the nuclear energy is the core of the national energy policy. But I can tell you this; the health effects are minimal. The only thing we need to keep an eye on is the amount of exposure of plant workers who are working with a do-or-die resolution. But we don't have to worry about the health effects of ordinary people.
しかしながら、それでも不安はある。誰に不安がある？女性、妊婦、乳幼児です。次の世代を背負う子供達に対し、私たちは責任があります。だから、全ての放射線安全防護基準は、赤ちゃんの被ばく線量を基準につくられています。いいですか。子供を守るために安定ヨウ素材の投与、あるいは避難・退避ということの基準は作られています。大人は二十歳を過ぎると放射線の感受性は殆どありません。もう限りなくゼロです。大人は放射線に対して感受性が殆どないということをまず覚えてください。そのくせ、一番心配するのは大人。これは間違いです。特に男は大間違い。我が身を省みれば、自分はタバコを飲んだり、酒を飲んどるのに、放射線より遥かにリスクが高いのに。男はまず心配いらないです。守るべきは女性、女子供、妊婦、乳幼児です。もし、この状態が悪くなるとすれば、逃げるのは妊婦と子供でいいんです。男は戦わなくちゃ。復興に向けてここで福島県民として、会津の白虎隊でしう。それくらいの覚悟はあって然るべきです。
And yet you are worried. Worried about whom? Women, pregnant women, and infants. We are responsible for the future generation. So, every radiation protection safety limit is based on the amount allowable for babies. Administering potassium iodide, deciding on the evacuation, they are all based on protecting children. Adults over 20 years old have very little sensitivity to radiation. Almost zero. That's the first thing you have to remember. Still, adults are the ones who worry the most. This is wrong. Especially wrong if you are male. You smoke and drink, and worry about radiation? Men don't have to worry. All we need to do is protect women, children, pregnant women and infants. If the situation deteriorates, pregnant women and children should escape. Men should stay put and fight for recovery. You [as Fukushima residents] are the descendants of people who produced the proud Byakko-Tai. You should have such a resolution.
放射線の影響は、実はニコニコ笑ってる人には来ません。クヨクヨしてる人に来ます。これは明確な動物実験でわかっています。酒飲みの方が幸か不幸か、放射線の影響少ないんですね。決して飲めということではありませんよ。笑いが皆様方の放射線恐怖症を取り除きます。でも、その笑いを学問的に、科学的に説明しうるだけの情報の提供がいま非常に少ないんです。是非、今の私の話を聞いて、疑問が沢山あると思いますから沢山質問してください。これは講演会でも講義でもないんです。皆様と私のキャッチボールなんですね
To tell you the truth, radiation doesn't affect people who are smiling, but those who are worried. This has clearly been demonstrated by animal studies. So, drinking may be bad for your health, but happy drinkers are less affected by radiation, luckily. I'm not advising you to drink, but laughter will remove your radiation-phobia. But there's precious little information to scientifically explain the effects of laughter. So, please ask all your questions. This is not a lecture, it's a dialog between you and I.
If you understand Japanese, go listen to the audio file. About 43 minutes and 40 seconds into the audio, you can hear him say these things.
"Byakko-tai" members were boys aged mostly 16 to 17 but as young as 13 who fought to defend their lord's land (today's Aizu in Fukushima Prefecture) but chose to kill themselves rather than to surrender in the civil war that ensued after the Meiji revolution that brought down the Tokugawa Shogun government. Fukushima was on the side of Tokugawa.
Professor Yamashita was telling the Fukushima City residents to be like them in the battle with radiation.
His "non lecture" preceding the above is full of misrepresentations and some outright lies. I may translate that later, if I'm not too disgusted.
So, imagine the Japanese, particularly those in Fukushima Prefecture, who have been bombarded by the messages like this since March. A veritable brainwash, and it may be working, despite the effort by "outsiders" like Greenpeace.
Throughout Japan, mothers continue to accompany their small children to kindergartens, and fathers are too busy working. Just like in Japan before March 11, before the nuke accident. They sometimes frown on mothers and fathers who are considering withdrawing their children from kindergartens, saying "How they overreact! How silly!"
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Friday, June 17, 2011
On March 12, long before the Reactor 1 building blew off (3:36PM), the radiation level started to go up as indicated by the exhaust pipe monitoring at the central control room, around 5:04AM.
The manager in charge of the shift at that time instructed the workers to wear dust masks inside the control room, and charcoal masks when going outside.
The 2 workers followed the instruction and were wearing dust masks. Dust masks cannot filter out radioactive iodine, and charcoal filters may have become less effective as they were used for extended period of time until the fresh supply could be delivered.
At that time, there were 15 charcoal masks, 50 pairs of charcoal filters, and 300 masks [without filters attached?面体] for the Reactors 3 and 4 workers.
One of the workers wore eyeglasses, and that left a gap between the full-face mask and the face. There is no way to seal the gap, according to TEPCO.
[It is extremely hard for me to believe there is no mask for people wearing eyeglasses.]
The 2 workers had to eat and sleep in the central control room until 4:00PM on March 13. While eating emergency food in the central control room, they had to take off the masks. The door to the central control room got warped by the impact of the Reactor 1 bldg explosion, and didn't properly close.
When the Reactor 1 building blew up on March 12, there were workers outside working without any mask.
3. About potassium iodide pills:
TEPCO had 30,000 pills stored in the building off the Reactor 1 (where the plant headquarters are; many workers still live there) prior to the accident. They were not stocked at the central control rooms.
The company instructed on March 13 [AFTER the Reactor 1 building blew up on March 12] that the workers less than 40 years of age take potassium iodide pills. For the workers 40 years of age and above, the pills would be given if they requested.
The 2 workers couldn't start on the pills until they moved to the building where they could get potassium iodide until 4:00PM on March 13.
This is borderline criminal, particularly about potassium iodide. From the detailed reports that TEPCO suddenly disclosed in mid May, the company knew from the beginning of the accident (evening of March 11) that the reactors may have been breached; they were measuring a very high air radiation at the plant on March 11, which they correctly attributed to a breached Reactor Pressure Vessel. They also knew the venting of the Reactor 1, which was scheduled on March 12, would release a large amount of radioactive materials in the air. And they waited until March 13 to instruct workers to take potassium iodide?
And the company had a gall to blame its own workers at first. Now that it has turned out that the company was to blame, the incident is due to the unfortunate confusion in the early days of the accident.
Diposkan oleh Pengetahuan dan Pengalaman on Thursday, June 16, 2011
日が経つにつれて危機意識が薄れてる。野菜にこだわって生 産してきた福島の農家として警告します。未だに農産物は出荷量に対し99.9%以上未検査。１市町村１圃場だけのサンプル検査です。自治体が出す安全宣言 などは現時点で非常にいい加減な検査手法により出されています。
I sense that people are getting less vigilant as days go by. But I warn you, as a farmer who has taken much pride in growing the best vegetables possible, that more than 99.9% of the agricultural produce shipped are not tested, even today. The test for radioactive materials is done by sampling in one farm plot per city/town/village. The "safety declaration" by municipalities are being issued, based on this flimsy testing.
So that's how Shizuoka Prefecture may have tested their teas: one bag from one factory per one tea growing region. Unfortunately for the governor of Shizuoka, a Tokyo grocer did the independent testing, and he had to order the testing at all 100 factories in that one particular tea growing region.
Here's a tweet by a medical doctor, @KamiMasahiro 上 昌広. His Twitter profile says he is a doctor in internal medicine, and the site he lists on Twitter goes to the Tokyo University Institute of Medical Science, and he is a professor in the Division of Social Communication System.
His June 13 tweet:
飯舘村で一緒に健康相談した医師から。何考えているんだろう。 「本日、病院幹部(私もその一人)に文科省と厚労省の連名で通達が書面できました。原発被害を受けた地域への関係学会が認めない健康診断や調査は住民たちの負担を増やすので、許可を得てからやりなさいと」
Message from the doctor I worked with in Iitate-mura [in Fukushima Prefecture], when we gave medical advice to the villagers. I don't know what they [the government ministries] are thinking. "Today, our hospital received a written notice signed by both the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The notice says "The medical checkups and research of the residents in the areas affected by the nuke plant accident are allowed only if the permission to do so is given by the related scientific societies and associations; otherwise it would only increase the burden on the residents.""