(Ex-Journalist) Takashi Uesugi Goes Inside #Fukushima No-Entry Zone, Measures 106.87 Microsieverts/Hr Near Fukushima I Nuke Plant

Takashi Uesugi, who says he is an ex-journalist and now a "hyper golf creator" (whatever that means), went inside the no-entry zone in Fukushima (I believe it was in May or June) with his dosimeters to ostensibly visit his favorite golf course in Fukushima.

Mr. Uesugi, former New York Times reporter, created the bilingual (Japanese/English) video below, which is on his website, as a teaser for the longer, full version to be released later.

In the early days of the Fukushima nuclear accident, he was more active, accusing the government and TEPCO for withholding the information about the accident, particularly about the "meltdown" of the reactors.

On his visit to his favorite golf course, Uesugi also dropped by near Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. His dosimeter showed 106.87 microsieverts/hour.

What's astonishing to me about the video than the radiation level (yes it is high) is that Uesugi visited a family who continues to live inside the no-entry zone because of the very old mother who is bed-ridden. The daughter, herself in her 60s or 70s, says even the doctors tell them it was a good choice to remain there, because her mother wouldn't have made it in the temporary shelter. But there is no water, no gas, no propane delivery, nothing. How do these people survive? Why should they suffer like this? Because of the arbitrary circle that the inept government marked on the map in March last year. But the daughter is reassuring the mother, "This is your house, you don't need to go anywhere."

Many who saw this video are crying "TEPCO lies!" on Twitter because one of the monitoring posts at the plant on July 12 was only 9.3 microsieverts/hour, nowhere near 106 microsieverts/hour that Uesugi measured.

That is an unjust accusation, though. TEPCO says on its webpage that summarizes the monitoring post data that the company did the thorough decontamination from February to April this year around the the monitoring posts MP2 through 8 in order to reduce the background radiation levels to better monitor the radiation fluctuations. The radiation level near the Main Building has been extremely stable around 220 microsieverts/hour.

(H/T Helios)

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