Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Seiichi Nakate on March 11 Nuclear Accident: "We Weren't Told About Anything, and Cover-Up and Safety Propaganda Engulfed Fukushima"

Mr. Nakate is the head of "Fukushima Network to Protect Children from Radiation (子どもを放射能から守る福島ネットワーク)". He held a talk, one of the series, on January 17, 2012 in Sapporo, Hokkaido. He said he would be moving to Hokkaido himself. Fukushima was now almost forgotten by people in Japan, he said.

Following is from his talk as compiled into the togetthers (here and here, if you read Japanese) created by people who watched the USTREAM (archived here, nearly 2 hours).

"What is happening in Fukushima Now: What has happened to the children in Fukushima, where the contamination level far exceeds that from the Chernobyl accident? What are the responsibilities of the adults?"

Looking back on the March 11 nuclear accident:

3/13にはポータブルのものでもはっきり測れる程の異常がでていた。文部省には原子力研究所があり、測定の専門家がいる。率直にいえばマニアックな人達 で、平気で計測し、平気でHPに公開していた。でも、私達にはその数字がわからなかった。数百倍、場所によっては数千倍の線量だったのに。

On March 13, the radiation levels were so abnormal that even a portable survey meter could tell. The Ministry of Education and Science has the nuclear research lab [JAEA?] and there are specialists who measure radiation. They are nuclear science geeks, frankly, who measured the radiation levels and published the results on the homepage. But we didn't know what those numbers meant. They were hundreds of times, even thousands of times more than the normal levels.

NHK・ETV取材班によれば、文部省が測った数値、浪江の対馬地区・赤宇木は333μSv/hだった。通常0.03~0.06程。3時間で1mSv、1 日で8mSv、3日で今の避難基準を超える。一週間いれば、原発作業員でさえ絶対ありえない、まさに「ただちに健康に影響がでるような」数値に。

According to NHK's ETV, the Ministry of Education measured 333 microsieverts/hour in Akougi in Tsushima District of Namie-machi. The normal levels were 0.03 to 0.06 microsievert/hour. 1 millisievert in 3 hours, 8 millisieverts in one day, and in 3 days it would have exceeded the current standard for evacuation [20 millisieverts]. If you stayed for one week, it would have been the level which "would affect the health immediately". It would have been the level not even the nuclear plant workers are exposed.

立派な機材を積んだモニタリングカーがその辺を計測してまわり、その傍らには何も知らない住民たちが日常を送っていた。浪江の対馬地区は、原発の南西 30km位のところで、3/12に避難指示がでたため、20km圏内の人が避難してきていた。避難してきたはずが何十倍も被曝してしまった。

A monitoring car with good equipment came and measured the radiation levels. The residents continued to live there, knowing nothing. Tsushima District of Namie-machi is located at about 30 kilometers southwest [sic. it is northwest] of the plant, and many people inside the 20-kilometer radius evacuated there after the evacuation order was issued on March 12. They were supposed to have escaped from radiation, but they ended up getting irradiated several tens of times more.

(地図を示しながら)この阿武隈山地が防波堤のように防いでくれていた。が、3/15の波は阿武隈山地も乗り越えて、大量の放射能が中通り、新幹線の通る 一帯、福島や郡山のあるところまで達してしまった。そして隠ぺい工作、安全デマが福島県内を覆いつくした、市民には真実は伝えられなかった。

(Showing the map) This Abukuma Mountains acted like a breakwater [against radioactive materials). But the wave on March 15 went over the mountains, and a large amount of radioactive materials reached Nakadori [middle 3rd of Fukushima], areas where the Shinkansen bullet train runs, Fukushima City, and Koriyama City. Then the cover-ups and "safety" propaganda completely engulfed Fukushima. Residents were not told the truth.

そこで住民は普通の暮らしをしていた。情報の隠蔽、安全デマがものすごい勢いで福島県内に押し寄せ、被曝を拡大させた。正直、住民は大丈夫だよ、と言って欲しかった。安全を裏付ける情報を必死で求めた。そういう状況だった。ただ、やはり本当の情報が必要だと思った。

People were living the normal lives. Information was hidden, and the "safety" propaganda flooded Fukushima, causing even more exposure to radiation for the residents. To be honest, the residents wanted to be told "It's OK, nothing to worry about." They did all they could to look for information that would support "safety". That was how it was. I thought we needed the real information.

(to be continued)

It is perfectly understandable that Fukushima residents wanted assurance from the authorities in the early days of the accident. Everyone did. They wanted to believe the word of Yukio Edano, Chief Cabinet Secretary and the mouthpiece of the Kan administration, when he told the nation "There is no immediate effect on health". Now we all know that he only meant the radiation levels were not going to cause acute radiation poisoning.

After all, for more than a half century, the majority of the Japanese believed nuclear power was safe, and that Japan was leading the world by peaceful use of atomic energy. Despite the Fukushima accident, the majority still do, this time with the added delusion that nuclear power is necessary to prevent global warming.

That aside, I wonder if the US government, military or the NRC had anything to say to the Japanese counterparts about the way the Japanese authorities were not informing the people in Japan about the disaster and the danger of radiation exposure. They raised issues with how the Japanese government was handling the plant accident. Since they had access to SPEEDI data from very early on, thanks to Jerome Ryan, Second Secretary in the Political Section of U.S. Embassy Tokyo, they must have also known about the extremely high radiation levels in wide areas outside the immediate vicinity of the plant, and that people continued to live in places like Namie-machi and Iitate-mura, which were finally designated as planned evacuation zone in late April.

I wonder if they were OK with the cover-ups and safety lies.

23 comments:

Chibaguy said...

The US knew well before and they are comfortable with the coverup. I think Hillary Clinton even made some pact.

What the Japanese government did not do even to this day is try and protect the citizens. They should have told everyone in the Kanto region to stay inside with closed doors until they figured out they situation. Literally, marshall law should have been in place making citizens stay put. That never happened and radiation is all over the place.

farfromhome said...

In my opinion, the US (gov't and military) is complicit in this.

Being associated with the military community here in Japan, I get zero support about protecting my family from the dangers of contaminated food, air or water. Since I live off base it is totally up to me to figure out and no ne wants to hear about it or discuss it.

There is too much at stake if nuclear energy is brought down and it is all about money.

netudiant said...

It is difficult to see how the US could do much more within the framework of national government.
The US did recommend an 80km evacuation circle, something that I am sure caused a reaction by the Japanese government. There has been no subsequent US statement on the crisis afaik that has not been reviewed with the Japanese authorities.
Seen that the problem is far worse than any previous US experience, it is not clear either why the US would have much to contribute. While we can speculate that a more coherent approach to the problem of radiation contamination might have been followed if the US had strongly suggested one, reality is the US has none in place either. So it would be the blind leading the blind.

Anonymous said...

The Big Lie is the response to nuclear accidents:

Build where it makes no sense.
Build the design basis so it easily fails.
Cut corners on maintenance and safety.
Use it as a front for Nuclear Weapons.
Privatize profits.
Socialize losses.
Doom on you.

Frame Narrative. Ignore Facts. Lie. Call it truth.

Karen Sherry Brackett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

>Do not depend upon the courage of others for your own self protection and health. And do not assume someone is going to knock on your door and tell you to run because they need to be running too.

I don't care that the US didn't come knocking on the door. I do want to know, out of curiosity, if the US officials didn't mind their counterparts telling lies to the subjects. One thing to withhold information, totally another to actively lie, actively putting lives in danger. I wonder if they did say something in private.

Or that's just what the US would have done, withhold information and lie to the public in the worst nuclear disaster (or second worst, according to Russians).

Anonymous said...

LOL! US withhold information? You have but to look at all the lies surrounding the BP oil spill. The US is king of lies and misinformation. The US government is tied into the nuke industry, err, mafia, just like other governments who accept nukes are tied. If the nuke industry goes bust, huge amounts of money will be lost. Can't have that.

Anonymous said...

It is not in our interests health wise to be complacent when a global nuclear accident occurs. What has happened in Japan has crossed the ocean.

If you are really someone from a U.S. government body, stop with the ubiquitous yadda, yadda, yadda--we've heard it all--and tell us what any of you are actually doing in the interest of our health!!! While you are at it, how are you not complacent in regard to this incident??? There's not even any media coverage!!!!!!!!! You think any of us U.S. citizens here on these blog comments are going to forget this?

farfromhome said...

So many people have been fed lies, including Americans. WE take responsibility for ourselves and have taken precautions. But we are only here for another 45 days....

What is bothersome to us is that more and more American (military) families show up in Japan thinking they won the lottery and are going to make all of this money and get to do all of these great things in Japan. But when we broach the subject about Fukushima and the contamination issues we get the deer in the headlights look, then nothing. More sushi for everyone seems to be their reply. We then drop it. The lack of awareness is amazing.

Karen Sherry Brackett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

@11:43
Nuclear energy, a gift from God, that kills both quickly and slowly.
Would that only be the radiation released in a global nuclear accident ?
Is the radiation routinely released from the nuclear power plants on a daily basis in the U.S. a special safe kind of radiation ?
Floating plants? In case the ocean hasn't gotten enough of the radiation that kills both quickly and slowly?
Please God, no more gifts.

Anonymous said...

Ms. Brackett, please just go away. Don't make yourself a fool.

Anonymous said...

As for media, I know of no other event this year which world wide has received more media coverage. This situation is in every newspaper around the world and on every television news station around the world.

You are freaking kidding, right? Or legally deaf and blind?

Why don't you google General Electric holdings and read the huge list of mainstream media outlets these bastards own and manipulate. No other event received more media coverage this year MY ASS. How can you lie like this? MSM has been notoriously silent. If Fuku was getting the honest coverage it deserved, Arevamirpal wouldn't have to maintain one of the few blogs that still cover the nuke clusterfuck out of honourable duty.

Get a clue, lady.

SouthJerseyJoey said...

6:35PM, you need to read other people's comments first. somehow you have the idea that only japanese people write here. i'm from the states so can you tell me which tv station(s) or newspaper(s) is/are covering the fukushima nuke turkey?

Anonymous said...

>I spoke up because as a American citizen I know how concerned people geniunely are here for the citizens of Japan. It just seemed highly wrong to see us being blamed for a problem we did not create.

I've just come to the realization that American politicians have the same reasoning powers and manure spreading abilities as Japanese politicians. They are no different. GOD HELP US ALL.

Anonymous said...

One of the roles of government is to inform people of a disaster and to help protect people during a disaster. The fact that the government of Japan did not inform people of the dangers of radiation and the fact that they did not help people to evacuate - and still do not, is a crime against humanity. People should not have to fear their own government. Government should be of the people and by the people. Clearly, people need to run if there is a major tragedy but they have to have somewhere to run to and they have to understand the danger.

The great majority of people in the US have no idea about what is really happening in Fukushima and Japan as a whole. The media rarely if ever reports on it and if they do it is white washed information, such as reporting there is a cold shut down when there is no cold shut down. Yes, the New York Times recently had an article about the amount of money that is being spent on "clean up" but this article did not ask questions such as "Why was nuclear decontamination being carried out with paper towels?" and the most important question, "Why is the clean up happening at all when the fact is it is impossible to clean up after a nuclear accident of this magnitude." What we need is a lot more reporting on this and a lot more questions being asked.

A nuclear accident could happen at any time in the USA. The 104 nuke plants in the USA are no safer than the plants in Japan.

Karen Sherry Brackett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karen Sherry Brackett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karen Sherry Brackett said...

Has anyone on this site seen Fukushima's data on SPEEDI above 25500nGy/h this past year or past month?

Anonymous said...

Karen, is this you?

Karen Sherry Brackett
Oil & Energy Professional
Johnson City, Tennessee (Johnson City, Tennessee Area) Oil & Energy
Join LinkedIn and access Karen Sherry Brackett’s full profile.

As a LinkedIn member, you'll join 150 million other professionals who are sharing connections, ideas, and opportunities. And it's free! You'll also be able to:

See who you and Karen Sherry Brackett know in common
Get introduced to Karen Sherry Brackett
Contact Karen Sherry Brackett directly
View Full Profile
Karen Sherry Brackett's Overview

Past
Nuclear Fuel Operator at Nuclear Fuel Services
Connections
1 connection
Karen Sherry Brackett's Experience

Nuclear Fuel Operator
Nuclear Fuel Services
2009 – 2009 (less than a year)

Karen Sherry Brackett said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I did google GE's television related holdings. Interesting. Not a word about the fiasco on any of these boob tube stations.

On January 18, 2011 the Federal Communications Commission approved Comcast’s take-over of a majority share of NBC-Universal from General Electric. However, General Electric still has a 49% ownership stake in NBC-Universal.

Television networks: NBC Networks, Telemundo, Ion Media (partial stake).

Cable: NBC Entertainment, NBC News, NBC Sports, NBC Television, NBC Universal, CNBC, CNBC World (Arabia, India, Asia, Europe), MSNBC, Bravo, SyFy Channel, Telemundo, USA, Oxygen, Weather Plus, Mun2, Sleuth, Chiller, Universal HD, A&E Networks (16%; includes A&E, the History Channel, History en español, the Biography Channel, Military History Channel, Crime & Investigation Network, A&E HD, the History Channel HD, History International), the Weather Channel (partial), SyFy Channel HD.

Production and distribution companies: NBC Universal Television Distribution, Universal Media Studios

26 television stations, owned under the “NBC Universal” division. These include NBC affiliates, 46 stations, Telemundo affiliates, and a small number of independents.

International Channels: 13eme Rue (France), 13th Street (Germany), Studio Universal (Germany), Sci-fi Channel (Germany), Calle 13 (Spain), Sci Fi Channel UK, Movies 24 (UK), DivaTV (UK), Studio Universal (Italy), Universal Channel (Latin America), CNBC Asia, CNBC Europe, 18 Hallmark Channels (worldwide), KidsCo (worldwide, partial).

Programming: NBC Network News, NBC Universal Global Networks, NBC Universal International Channels, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Dateline NBC, Meet the Press, Early Today, CNBC, Squawk Box, Mad Money, CNBC World, CNBC Arabia, CNBC-India TV-18, Hardball with Chris Matthews, the Rita Cosby Specials Unit, Morning Joe, Mun2, Sleuth, A&E [partial], the History Channel [partial], the Biography Channel (partial), ShopNBC (27%).

Anonymous said...

I spend on average at least 8hrs a day 7days a week covering fukushima. I live in the us. The coverage here is pathetic. What little we do get is whitewashed with nuke industry experts peddling their bs to the masses. Fukushima could have happened in the us with the same lousy response and lies. It will happen here unless people demand changes.

Post a Comment