For some unknown reason, NHK decided to air a documentary on iodine-131 dispersion in the days right after the start of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011. In it, there was a simulation map created by researchers who carefully pieced together information without the government funding. It was a map of estimated thyroid dose equivalent exposure of I-131 for 5-year-olds.
The highest exposure is shown at above 200 millisieverts (thyroid dose equivalent for 5-year-olds).
(TV screenshot by @study2007, from Twitter)
This is the first map I've ever seen that has been made by the Japanese, plotting the thyroid dose.
What's interesting is why the dispersion of iodine-131 is still an estimate and simulation. As NHK tells it, the government ministry in charge of measuring radiation, Ministry of Education, actively intervened and prohibited the officials or researchers from doing the actual measurement of radioactive iodine in the air from March 14 to March 17, 2011.
WHY? Because the explosion of the Reactor 3 building at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant would endanger the officials doing the measurement outdoors. The officials dutifully followed the order. They chose not to collect probably the most critical data of the accident, and they didn't bother to tell the residents either, who were out and about with no information.
That's if you can believe NHK.
I wonder why they created the above map as dose equivalent for 5-year-olds, instead of 1-year-olds, like France's IRSN did. My guess is that the numbers would then be too high for viewers' comfort.
NHK's documentary (in Japanese) can be still seen here (part 1) and here (part 2), until NHK notices and takes them down.
30-Day free trial by following the link.
Tokyo Time
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14 comments:
This is maddening, the situation was so dangerous that the people in charge of monitoring the danger refused to do their job but they neglected to relay their fears to the public. The fact that this is an "estimate" means 200mSv could actually be 20 or 2000 it is criminal that the nuclear industry and its watchdogs are allowed to neglect to collect or withhold important information in the name of public order. Unfortunately panic is bad for the economy and later illness can be hidden or ignored.
Does the video say who the researchers are or where they work out of?
Is there a reason that NHK's reporting should not be believed?
Did I get this right? Government officials couldn't collect radiation data in the most critical days, because - going outdoors - they would have been in danger, while the official statement all the time is that everything is more or less harmless (or a bit of radiation even good for you)?
This is like needing the fire department, and they tell you they cannot come right now because it is too dangerous for them to approach a burning house.
...or like the police not able to come to your rescue because it's too risky for them while there are burglars in your house.
Next time send the officials with a smiley mask out the door!
Is killing kids a national pastime?
"Is there a reason that NHK's reporting should not be believed?"
In short, yes. In order for NHK to stay in business, or not get shut down by the gov't, they must milk the story for all its worth. This means drip feeding info and selective reporting, and profiting off of fear and worry, rather than offering clear and accurate reporting which would raise red flags and incite radical change. That kind of thing is frowned upon in the business of exploitation porn (fake journalism).
According to the criminally inaccurate Wikipedia,
"NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials,[3] is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee."
Publicly funded =/= interested in informing the public of the need to flee.
Very interesting. Thank you for posting.
If I had had this information at the time, I would have behaved differently in March 2011.
Lesson learned: Never, ever, ever trust the government to be forthcoming with information in the event of a major event.
Interesting chart, with some unexpected elements.
It shows much higher doses than the ISRN map estimates you gave a link to.
Also, it shows substantial Iodine fallout south od the plant, while all the maps suggest that the bulk of the deposition was north and east of the site.Is there a larger scale version of this map, maybe for 100km around the plant?
"until NHK notices and takes them down..."
at archive.org is the wayback machine which aims to make available in perpetuity all posted material on the web, regardless of whether it has been taken off the original site; a very useful resource in the face of censorship. There are some gaps but still very useful.
Excellent report, thanks for bringing this to our attention. I agree with you speculation as well, it is pieced together info ad hoc 50 true post facto information/disinformation to cover their sorry backsides. Just outrageous.
I suppose some reporters at NHK would like to tell the truth but are constrained by the Nuclear Mafia that runs the country.
Yes, I read the comment from Vyse Legendaire above. Right on the money.
"Fake Journalism." By the way, years ago the film "Nuclear Ginza" was gong to be aired on NHK but the higher ups squashed it, for the reasons VL points out. I would recommend watching it on youtube.
Speaking of fakes and frauds:
The BBC Exposed
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SYPUC6GK7OA
OT: avg air radioactivity up from the usual 0.047-ish to 0.060+ micro gray/hr during today's snowfall, according to Tokyo Met. Institute of Public Health.
Beppe
Beppe, that's from natural background radiation, as it happens when it rains or snows.
Utilitarianism is the moral philosophy which asserts that the maximization of happiness is the ultimate aim of all human conduct. According to Jeremy Bentham, the systematizer of utilitarianism, an action is right if, and only if, it promotes the greatest happiness of the greatest number.
I see it as those affected by the contamination were sacrificed for the perceived benefits of Nuclear Japan, the Japanese economy and all the other Japanese who would be made 'happy' by continuing with the running of the country since nuclear inception.
The idea for Japan to have nuclear power was bold:to be no longer dependant on imported oil etc (energy security).
Japans postwar success has been built around this principle and oil imports have declined (I think).
It has clearly been a catalog of disasters and cover-ups for the nuclear industry because it should now be realized that nuclear power is simply too dangerous. If all tthe truths were told about nuclear power to the Japanese people, they would surely reject it at whatever cost to the economy.
This is why Kan was desposed of. He presented too much of a threat to the nuclear industry and resultant other captains of industry who would rather sacrifice some stupid Tohoku peasants and their land rather than turn a new leaf and look to other ways of powering the country.
The media and other agencies and universities have prostituted their souls to these pimps and until the public become aware of it and demand otherwise, they always will.
The last election was a successful stitch up of nuclear opposed opinion, devised and designed to divide and rule...allowing a non improved LDP to sweep to power by default.
Now the very same LDP can weaken the yen, import inflation, and impoverish yet more honest peasants whilst lining their own-and the captains of industry- with profits from exports.
How long will it last?
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