(Now They Tell Us) US Nuclear Terrorism Specialists Were Sent to Japan Right After the Start of Fukushima Nuclear Accident to Measure Radiation

A short article by Kyodo News doesn't reveal much details, but it is clear, sort of, that the US was measuring radiation from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident from very early on.

Kyodo News writes as if everybody knew there was a team of US experts measuring radiation around Fukushima I Nuke Plant right after the accident. (Did we?)

Kyodo News (12/31/2012):

米、原発事故に核特殊チーム派遣　初展開、菅政権把握せず

US sent a nuclear special team to Japan, first [overseas] deployment of the team; Kan administration did not know about the deployment

東電福島第１原発事故直後に、原発周辺の放射線量を測定するために米政府が日本に派遣したのは、核テロなどに備える特殊専門チームだったことが３１日、分かった。このチームが海外へ本格展開した初の事例だったが、当時の菅直人政権中枢は派遣の事実を当初把握していなかったことも判明。チームが実測したデータの公表が遅れ、住民の「無用な被ばくを招いた」（福島県浪江町議会の吉田数博議長）恐れがある。

It was revealed on December 31 that a team that the US government sent to Japan in order to measure radiation around Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant right after the start of the nuclear accident was a special team to counter nuclear terrorism. It was the first overseas deployment for this team, but the core officials in the Kan administration weren't aware of the deployment at that time. The actual measurement [as opposed to simulations like SPEEDI] by the team was therefore delayed, and it may have caused "unnecessary radiation exposure" for the residents (Namie Town Assembly chairman).

チーム派遣決定に関わった複数の米政府関係者と、日本側当局者らが共同通信に明らかにした。

Multiple sources in the US government and the Japanese counterparts who were involved in the deployment disclosed the news to Kyodo Tsushin.

派遣されたのは、上空からガンマ線を実測し汚染状況を分析する「被害管理対応チーム」の３３人。

The team consisted of 33 people in "Damage Control and Response Team" [my translation, probably not the official name] in charge of measuring gamma radiation from the sky and analyzing the situation of contamination.

Could this team be from Nuclear Emergency Support Team? Kyodo article has a photograph provided by the US National Nuclear Security Administration, so it is likely it was this team.

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