#Fukushima Prefecture Installs Fixed Radiation Monitoring Posts, Radiation Levels Drop by Half

Talk about retarded. Fukushima Prefecture replaces portable radiation monitoring posts with fixed ones on April Fool's Day, and one of the local newspaper dutifully reports the results of the new measurement.

Surprise! Radiation levels dropped by half, using the fixed monitoring posts! The radiation level in Koriyama City went from 0.51 microsievert/hour on March 31 to 0.26 on April 1!

Even the Fukushima local residents thought the numbers were suspicious. It turns out that the fixed monitoring posts were installed at locations that had been just "decontaminated", and the measuring unit was changed from sievert to gray.

First, the local newspaper Fukushima Minyu on April 2, 2013, whose article gives an impression that it was because of the "portable" (temporary) nature of the monitoring posts that were giving elevated radiation numbers, with no mention of decontamination or change of measuring unit:

主要定点「モニタリングポスト」、６方部を固定型に

Major "monitoring posts" in 6 regions replaced to fixed type

県は１日、主要定点の放射線量として県内７方部に設置したモニタリングポストのうち、６方部のポストを持ち運びができる可搬型から固定型に取り換えた。

On April 1, the prefectural government replaced the portable radiation monitoring posts in 6 regions out of 7 regions in the prefecture with the fixed ones.

この結果、各地の空間放射線量の測定値は、郡山が交換前（３月３１日）の毎時０．５１マイクロシーベルトから０．２７マイクロシーベルト、南相馬は毎時０．３マイクロシーベルトから０．１４マイクロシーベルトにほぼ半減するなど全体的に下がった。

As the result, the air radiation levels measured in these 6 regions generally dropped lower. In some cities the radiation dropped almost by half; the radiation level in Koriyama City went from 0.51 microsievert/hour on March 31 before the replacement to 0.27 microsievert/hour, and the radiation level in Minamisoma City went from 0.3 microsievert/hour to 0.14 microsievert/hour.

特に数値が下がった郡山はポストの位置を約８０メートル、南相馬は約４５メートル移した。県は設置場所を固定するため電源の位置や施設の利用に支障が出ない場所、県民の目に触れやすい道路近くを選んだとしている。

Koriyama City, which saw the radiation level drop significantly, moved the location of the monitoring post by 80 meters [from the original location]. Minamisoma City also moved the location by 45 meters. According to the prefectural government, the new locations were selected so that the power supply for the monitoring posts was secure and that the access to public facilities wouldn't be hindered. The new locations are also close to the roads so that the monitoring posts can be easily seen by residents.

Residents, many of whom have been using their personal survey meters since the accident, are skeptical. FNN Local News reported on April 2, 2013 that radiation levels as measured in Koriyama City got significantly lower in one day. Its reporter spoke with the government official, and found out that, in addition to installing the fixed monitoring posts in locations that just got decontaminated, they also changed the unit of measurement from microsievert/hour to microgray/hour, shaving off 20% in numbers:

福島県は、ウェブサイトで、県内7カ所の空間放射線量を公開している。県中地区の放射­線量を3月26日から示したグラフでは、午後3時の値を見ると、およそ0.5マイクロ­シーベルト(μSv)で推移していたが、1日から0.27と、およそ半分になった。こ­の変化をめぐって、県に問い合わせが相次いでいる。

Fukushima Prefecture publishes the air radiation levels in 7 locations inside the prefecture on its website. The chart that plots the radiation level in Mid Prefecture District from March 26 shows 0.5 microsievert/hour at 3PM, until April 1, when it dropped by half to 0.27. Many residents are asking the prefectural government about this change.

福島県が県中地区として公表している放射線量を測定しているのは、郡山市麓山(はやま­)にある郡山合同庁舎。

Fukushima Prefecture measures the radiation level for Mid Prefecture District at Koriyama Common Government Building in Hayama district of Koriyama City.

郡山市の空間放射線量の値として、これまで公表されていたのが、可搬型のモニタリング­ポストで計測されたもので、手元の線量計で確認すると、毎時0.4マイクロシーベルト­を超えていた。

The air radiation level of Koriyama City as published [by the prefectural government] had been measured by a portable monitoring post [before April 1]. When we checked with our survey meter, the radiation level was over 0.4 microsievert/hour.

3月31日までは、この可搬型モニタリングポストの数値が、県中地区の放射線量として­公表されてきた。

Up until March 31 this year, the number at this portable monitoring post was published as the radiation level for Mid Prefecture District.

しかし1日からは、およそ80メートル離れた場所に設置された固定型モニタリングポス­トの数値が公表されている。

However, starting April 1, the number at the fixed monitoring post installed at a location 80 meters away from the portable monitoring post has been used.

県中振興局の鈴木 仁副部長は「(低くなっている一番の理由は?)これは、舗装面で風がずいぶん当たって­いた場所だし、せっかくの施設(設備)なので、設置する前に、ここの一角だけは除染し­た」と話した。

(When we asked what contributed most to the lower number,) Hitoshi Suzuki, Deputy General Manager of Mid Prefecture District Development Bureau, said "This location [new location] is on a paved surface exposed to wind. Since we were installing brand-new monitoring post, we decontaminated the corner on which the monitoring post was to be installed."

固定型モニタリングポストが設置されたのは、すでに除染が行われた場所だった。

So, the fixed monitoring post was installed on a spot that had been decontaminated.

また、鈴木副部長は「物理量として測っているのはグレイ、人体に与える影響に換算した­のがシーベルトです。(より低く出るのは、グレイで測っているから?)そうですね。そ­の差っていうのも、今回は出ている。シーベルトからグレイになったっていうことで」と­話した。

Mr. Suzuki also said, "Gray measures physical quantity of radiation, and sievert measures the effect of radiation on human bodies". (We asked, "Is the lower number from measuring in gray?") "Well, that difference is shown this time, [with measuring unit going from] sievert to gray."

発表する単位を変更したことも、要因の1つだという。これまで、「マイクロシーベルト」だった単位を、1日から「マイクログレイ」に変更し­たことで、数字上は20%低くなる計算。

So, changing the unit in which the number is published has contributed to the lower number. By changing from "microsievert" to "microgray" starting April 1, the number is estimated to get lower by 20%.

鈴木副部長は「市民・県民に目立つ場所に置いて、長らく使う施設になるだろうし。庁舎­の敷地の中で、一番いい場所かなと思って、考えて決めた」と話した。

Mr. Suzuki said, "We thought it was the best location in the Government Building compound, as residents can see easily and it is a facility to be used for a long time."

南相馬合同庁舎でも、毎時0.30マイクロシーベルトから、毎時0.14マイクロシー­ベルトに半減している。

At the Minamisoma Common Government Building, the radiation level has dropped from 0.30 microsievert/hour to 0.14 microsievert/hour.

福島県では、問い合わせに対しては、きちんと誠意を持って対応するとしている。

Fukushima Prefecture says the government will respond to residents' queries properly and sincerely.

Properly and sincerely. Here's very bureaucratic-sounding Mr. Suzuki, in FNN News, explaining how they decontaminated the site before installing the monitoring posts:

The entire FNN news clip:

Tweet

Professor Yukio Hayakawa in Koriyama City, Measuring Radiation with Koriyama Residents

Live netcast started about 20 minutes ago. They are in the Kaiseizan Park right now.

1.4 microsievert/hour on the grass. They are saying Koriyama's radiation seems to be higher than in Fukushima City.

Live Video app for Facebook by Ustream

Tweet

#Radioactive Japan: Radiation Exposure Offers Many "Educational" Opportunities for Children

Exactly one and a half year since the start of the nuclear accident on March 11, 2011, this is where Japan stands. All the lip service to "protecting children" or "children are our future" is, well, lip service.

The mayor of a big city in Kanagawa Prefecture declares eating food containing radioactive cesium in the school lunches is part of children's education. A large city in Fukushima Prefecture in the highly contaminated Nakadori (middle third) refuses to install air conditioning systems in the city's public schools because children should not miss the opportunity to learn about global warming. A city in Tokyo has just started feeding children with milk from Fukushima for their school lunch program. A professor in a college in Shizuoka Prefecture with the PhD in tourism sends her students to Fukushima to buy Fukushima produce and goods to dispel "baseless rumors".

It is worse than the worst that Professor Kunihiko Takeda of Chubu University feared exactly a year ago, with his short poetic prose titled "A girl doesn't talk"; he pleaded with teachers and educators to do all they could to protect children. His plea has fallen on totally deaf ears, and here we are. This has got to be the end.

First, for Takao Abe, Mayor of Kawasaki City in Kanagawa Prefecture, making children eat food that has been proven to contain radioactive cesium of Fukushima origin is nothing but highly educational, and the parents should just shut up (Tokyo Shinbun 9/5/2012):

Mayor Takao Abe said during the regular press conference on September 4 that it was important for children to learn that they were living in dangers, and that he would continue to use the frozen oranges from Kanagawa and canned apples from Yamagata that were found with radioactive cesium in the school lunches in the elementary schools in Kawasaki City, emphasizing the educational aspect of using food [known to be contaminated with radioactive cesium].

According to the city's inspection, 9.1 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium was found in the frozen oranges [from Kanagawa], and 1.6 Bq/kg in the canned apple [from Aomori]. However, since the levels are below the national safety limit (100 Bq/kg) the city has been serving the frozen oranges in the school lunches since April this year. The city will start using the canned apple in September.

When asked about Yokohama City and Kamakura City not using the frozen oranges, Mayor Abe responded, "It is a mistake to teach children to be afraid of such a trivial level [of radioactive cesium]." He further commented, "On the road, there is a danger of being hit by a car. A total stranger may stab you. Do you teach children not to walk past a stranger?"

There are parents who are not convinced, but to them, the mayor said, "Don't be a chicken."

Mayor Abe was born and raised in Fukushima, by the way. But that has nothing to do with anything, right?

Koriyama City in high-radiation Nakadori of Fukushima Prefecture refused to install air conditioning systems in the city's schools because it was important for children to suffer to learn about "ecology" (tweet from one of my followers, about an NHK program on the topic):

郡山の学校、エアコン設置が認められないと、6月東電説明会でもあった。教育委員会からも「こどもにエコを学ばせたい」と言われたとのこと。先の動画から。放射能汚染と猛暑の中の児童を心配する親からの嘆願を、市議会も東電も教育委員会も却下。

They don't allow installation of air conditioning systems in schools in Koriyama City. It was talked about in the meeting with TEPCO in June. The city's Board of Education also said [to the parents], "We want children to learn ecology." From the video. The Koriyama City Assembly, TEPCO, and Board of Education all turned down the petition from the parents who worried about their children in the radiation contamination and the severe heat of the summer.

When the Japanese say "ecology", all they mean is "energy-saving to prevent global warming". Global warming.

Then, it is more important for Fuchu City in western Tokyo to help Fukushima recover from the "baseless rumors" than protecting children from potentially contaminated food; or good deal with a major milk supplier (Snow Brand Megmilk) cannot be ditched (the link goes to a page with the handout from the Board of Education). The latter, more likely. So, starting September 10, Fuchu City's milk from Snow Brand Megmilk will contain milk from Fukushima, in addition to Kanagawa, Chiba, Tochigi, Gunma, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamagata, Aomori. In for a penny, in for a pound, or literally, "Eat poison, lick the platter that serves the poison".

And lastly, Professor Akane Okubo got her PhD in tourism (I never heard of such a thing until I checked her bio), and teaches at Fuji Tokoha University in Shizuoka Prefecture while she continue to work for the research institute of Japan Travel Bureau (JTB), one of the largest tour operators in Japan. In the past, she worked for another tourism outfit (Jalan). How does she educate her students? By sending them off to Fukushima to buy up produce and goods in Fukushima to counter "baseless rumors". She must have gotten a lucrative grant from the national government for her "research". From Yomiuri Shinbun (9/10/2012):

大久保教授は「地元の人に話を聞いて、自分で何ができるか考えることが重要。風評被害の払拭に少しでも役に立てれば」と話した。

Professor Okubo said, "It is important for the student to listen to the local people and to think about what they can do. We would like to do any small thing to help dispel baseless rumors."

Now that's unintentionally funny. "Japanese university students" and "think" clearly don't go together.

The pace of descending into deeper and deeper lunacy seems to be accelerating in Japan. Maybe this is what people must have felt like in the 1930s, right before the last world war.

Tweet

#Radiation Exposure of Children to Be Measured in Miyagi to See if Decontamination Work Is Effective

Researchers from Tohoku University are going to monitor the radiation exposure of children in a town in southern Miyagi Prefecture bordering Fukushima Prefecture. It's not that they are particularly worried about the potential negative effect on radiation on the children's health. They want to evaluate how effective the decontamination will be, and they want to use children as indicators (if I may be so cynical).

From NHK News (6/1/2012):

放射性物質の除染が行われる宮城県丸森町で、東北大学大学院の研究グループが、除染が確実に効果を上げているか確かめるため、４年間かけて子どもの被ばく線量を測定することになりました。

A group of researchers in the graduate school of Tohoku University will measure the levels of radiation exposure of children for four years to see if the decontamination work is effective in Marumori-cho in Miyagi Prefecture where the decontamination work is set to start.

福島県との県境にある宮城県丸森町は宮城県内でも比較的放射線量が高く、国が費用を負担して土壌の放射性物質を取り除く除染を行う地域に指定されています。

Marumori-cho in Miyagi Prefecture is situated near the border to Fukushima Prefecture, and has relatively high levels of radiation. It is designated as the area where the national government will pay for the decontamination of soil.

除染の作業はこの夏から３年半かけて行われる予定ですが、丸森町で被ばくの調査を行っている東北大学大学院の吉田浩子講師の研究グループは、除染が確実に効果を上げているか確かめるため、４年間かけて子どもの被ばく線量を測定することになりました。

The decontamination will start this summer and take about 3 and a half years. A research group led by Hiroko Yoshida, lecturer at the Graduate School of Tohoku University, has been conducting the survey of radiation exposure in Marumori-cho. Her group is going to measure the radiation exposure of children for the next 4 years to see if the decontamination work is effective.

対象になるのは、丸森町に住む中学生以下の子どもおよそ１３００人とその保護者で、研究グループは、近く地元向けの説明会を開いて希望者を募ることにしています。
そのうえで、子どもに線量計を渡し、今月下旬から４年間にわたって測定を行いたいとしています。

The subjects will be about 1,300 children up to junior high school ages and their parents who live in Marumori-cho. The group will soon have the meeting for the local residents and ask for volunteers.

吉田講師は「除染は学校など公共の施設を優先して進められるが、子どもは自宅にいる時間が長い。除染によって子どもへの影響をどれだけ抑えられるのかを検証していきたい」と話しています。

Lecturer Yoshida says, "The decontamination work will start with the public buildings like schools, but children tend to be at their homes longer. We would like to study how the decontamination can reduce the effect of radiation on children."

On a separate news, Koriyama City will start lending out personal survey meters to pregnant women so that they can see their cumulative radiation exposure during their pregnancies.

But as the Rinzai monk/author in Miharu-machi in Fukushima says, children are stronger in resisting radiation. Then the unborn children inside the mothers' wombs must be even stronger (if I may be more cynical).

Tweet

#Radioactive Japan: 107.2 Bq/kg of Cesium from Pork from Koriyama City, First Pork to Exceed Safety Limit

Radioactive cesium exceeding the safety limit of 100 becquerels/kg was detected from one of 6 pigs shipped from a pig farm in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture. The other 5 were also found with radioactive cesium, ranging from 11 Bq/kg to 78 Bq/kg.

First, from Yomiuri Shinbun (5/22/2012):

福島・郡山産の豚肉からセシウム…出荷自粛

Radioactive cesium from pork produced in Koriyama City, Fukushima, voluntary shipment halt

福島県郡山市は２２日、市内の養豚農家が出荷した豚１頭の肉から、国の規制値（１キロ・グラム当たり１００ベクレル）を超える１０７・２ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたと発表した。

Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture announced on May 22 that the meat from one of the pigs shipped by a pig farmer in the city was found with 107.2 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium, exceeding the national safety limit (100 Bq/kg).

農水省によると、４月に導入された新規制値を超えるセシウムが豚から検出されるのは初めて。

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, it is the first case of cesium detection from pork that exceeded the new safety limit introduced in April.

同市によると、２１日に出荷された６頭を簡易検査したところ、そのうち１頭から５０ベクレル超を検出。再検査した結果、新規制値超の放射性セシウムを検出した。市は簡易検査で問題のなかった５頭の出荷自粛を農家に求め、すべて市場に出回っていない。

According to the city, the meat from 6 pigs that was shipped on May 21 was tested using the simplified method [NaI scintillation, most likely]. From the meat from one of the pigs, more than 50 Bq/kg of cesium was detected. After more detailed inspection [likely using germanium semiconductor detector], radioactive cesium exceeding the new safety limit was detected. The city has requested the voluntary halt of shipment of the meat from 5 pigs that passed the simplified test, so none of the meat is being sold in the market.

市は２２日に職員を派遣して農家にヒアリングを行ったが、原因究明には至っていない。今後、豚の餌である配合飼料などを検査して解明を急ぐ。

The city send an official to the pig farm on May 22 and interviewed, but the cause [for radioactive cesium in the meat] is not known yet. The city will test the formula feed and other feed for the pigs to try to identify the cause.

Koriyama City's press release on May 22, 2012 says the pork that was found with 107.2 Bq/kg of cesium will be destroyed, but the rest of the pork that tested lower than the safety limit (100 Bq/kg) is "supposed to be destroyed by the producer". That doesn't engender much confidence these days.

試料の種類	検査結果
	セシウム134	セシウム137	合計
豚肉1	19.1	21.7	40.8
豚肉2	21.0	27.7	48.7
豚肉3	検出せず（＜1.38）	11.2	11.2
豚肉4	41.8	65.4	107.2
豚肉5	20.2	37.3	57.5
豚肉6	26.9	50.6	77.5

Tweet

"Hot Spots" in Koriyama City's Public Schools Revealed, as High as 20 Microsieverts/hr in the Side Drain in One School

High-radiation "hot spots" including a side drain that measured over 20 microsieverts/hour had been found in public schools in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture, but the information only came to light after citizens' groups in the city demanded the disclosure to the city's Board of Education.

From Kyodo News (5/6/2012):

郡山の学校に「ホットスポット」　情報公開で判明

"Hot spots" in schools in Koriyama City, revealed by information disclosure request

　福島県郡山市の市民団体「安全・安心・アクションｉｎ郡山」などは６日、郡山市教育委員会への情報開示請求などの結果、市内の少なくとも１４小学校と７中学校、５保育所で、年間被ばく線量で２０ミリシーベルトに相当する毎時３・８マイクロシーベルトを超える「ホットスポット」があったと発表した。

Citizen's groups in Koriyama City announced on May 6 that the request for information disclosure to the Koriyama City Board of Education revealed that at least 14 elementary schools and 7 junior high schools, and 5 nursery schools had "hot spots" where the radiation levels exceed 3.8 microsieverts/hour, equivalent of 20 millisieverts in annual cumulative radiation exposure.

　開示資料によると市教委が１月、市内の小中学校に対し、定期的に測定している校庭や教室を除く、側溝や生け垣、雨水の排水口など敷地内８カ所の空間放射線量の測定を依頼。４月の測定結果では、地上１センチの高さで、中学校では側溝で毎時２０・４マイクロシーベルトなどを計測した。

According to the information disclosed, the Board of Education had asked the elementary schools and junior high schools in the city in January to measure the air radiation levels in 8 locations [at each school] including side drains, hedges, and drainage outlets. The measurement was in addition to the regular measurement of radiation levels in the school yards and classrooms. In the April measurement, one junior high school had a spot in the side drain at 20.4 microsieverts/hour at 1 centimeter off the surface.

Toyo Keizai, weekly economic magazine, had an article (5/2/2012) about the same topic - high radiation levels in schools in Koriyama. Even though the schools are supposed to have been "decontaminated", the reality is that all that's been done was to replace soil in the school yard, according to Toyo Keizai. Nothing has been done to the locations that tend to concentrate radioactive materials such as drains and water spouts.

Koriyama City finally decided to "decontaminate" those "hot spots" after the Golden Week holidays, but the decontamination work won't be finished before the annual spring athletic meets that these schools plan to conduct, just like last year and the year before.

Tweet

Professor Yukio Hayakawa Takes a "Radioactive Walk" In a Park in Koriyama City, Fukushima, Finds 9 Microsieverts/Hr "Black Dust"

Professor Hayakawa went to Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture and walked in Kaiseizan Park right near the City Hall. Compared to his walk in Edogawa-ku, Tokyo on the previous day, the radiation levels in Koriyama City is markedly higher (no surprise).

This time, the professor is armed only with his personal survey meter that only measures gamma ray. He seems to have a protective case on the survey meter, so I don't think he is laying down the survey meter "naked" on the grass or dirt. (He's been doing this for one year now in various locations, after all.)

He took the measurement of "black dust" at 4 locations:

• 3.533 microsieverts/hr

• 9.103 microsieverts/hr

• 7.291 microsieverts/hr

• 6.331 microsieverts/hr (in the City Hall parking lot)

開成山公園（郡山）

EveryTrail - Find trail maps for California and beyond

Tweet

In Cities in Fukushima, Abnormal Has Become Normal One Year After the Nuclear Accident

It is well-captured in a Mainichi Shinbun article and an Asahi Shinbun article that I found yesterday.

It may be puzzling to read about these, looking in. But for the residents inside Fukushima, this may be fast becoming the accepted way of life.

First, from the Mainichi article (4/7/2012, local Fukushima version; part) talking about school lunches in Fukushima City and school playground rules in Koriyama City and Minami Soma City:　

福島市は９日から、全７３市立小中学校の給食に含まれる放射性セシウムを毎日調べる「学校給食まるごと検査事業」を始める。検査機器が増設され、１１年度の週１回〜月２回のサンプル調査より検査態勢を強化した。

Fukushima City will test school lunches for the city's 73 public elementary schools and junior high schools for radioactive cesium every day, starting April 9. The city has installed more testing equipments, and is now able to test more frequently than in the fiscal 2011 when the test was done once a week or once in two weeks.

　給食を１食分余分に作り、学校給食センターと支所・学習センターの計２１カ所で検査する。１検体を１１〜３０分測り、検出限界値は１キロ当たり２０ベクレル。「食品の新基準値（同１００ベクレル）以下でも安心が得られない」（市教委）として、１食分で２０ベクレル以上を検出した場合は廃棄し、個別に検査した米などの主食と牛乳だけを提供する。１１年度のサンプル調査では、２０ベクレル以上の検体は無かった。

The school lunch centers will make one extra lunch each day and the lunch will be tested at 21 locations. Testing time will be between 11 to 30 minutes, and the detection limit is 20 becquerels/kg. The city's Board of Education says, "We cannot feel safe even it tests below the new safety limit for food (100 becquerels/kg or less)." If more than 20 becquerels/kg of cesium is detected, the lunch will be discarded, and the students will be served with rice and milk separately tested for safety. In the fiscal 2011, no lunch that was sample tested was found with 20 becquerels/kg of cesium.

　また、郡山市の市立小中学校は６日、昨年５月から続けてきた屋外活動を制限する３時間ルールを解除した。南相馬市も解除した。

Koriyama City lifted the 3-hour restriction for outdoor activities at the city's public elementary schools and junior high schools on April 6. The limit had been in place since May last year. Minami Soma City also lifted its restriction.

　体育などの屋外活動を１日１時間以内、部活動を２時間以内に制限する郡山市の独自基準で、市内の小学校５８校、中学校２８校で実施。市教委は、表土除去などの除染活動が進み、各校の校庭の空間放射線量が児童、生徒の安全を確保できるレベルまで低減したと判断し、解除を決めた。

Koriyama City's own restriction limited the outdoor activities at public schools (58 elementary schools and 28 junior high schools) to 1 hour per day for PE classes and 2-hour per day for extracurricular activities. The city's Board of Education has decided that the decontamination including removing the top soil has effectively lowered the air radiation levels on the school grounds to the levels where the safety of the pupils and students can be secured.

　中学生の子どもを持つ４０代の母親は「昨年度までと同じグラウンドなので、これからは大丈夫と言われても……。子どもには、部活中もマスクを外さないと約束させている」と戸惑い気味に話した。

A mother in her 40s with a child attending a junior high school in the city was puzzled. She said, "It is the same school ground as in the last fiscal year, but now they tell us it will be OK from now on. I've made my child promise to wear the mask during the extracurricular activities."

As of April 1, 2012, food is now "safe" as long as cesium is below 100 Bq/kg, instead of 500 Bq/kg only one day prior. As the new school semesters start, the school grounds are suddenly "safe" and no need to worry about radiation. ("Black dust" in Minami Soma? What black dust?) What a difference a day makes, indeed.

By the way, the detection limit of 20 Bq/kg is high compared to other cities in other prefectures that have been testing the school lunches. In Kamakura City in Kanagawa Prefecture, for example, the detection limit is 3 Bq/kg, and it is set to get lower with the introduction of the germanium semiconductor detector starting April 9.

The Asahi article was written by Shunsuke Kimura, an Asahi Shinbun reporter in Fukushima. On April 7, he participated as "decontamination" volunteer in a volunteer project to "decontaminate" one of the high-radiation hot spots in Watari District in Fukushima City. He says 387 "volunteers" including 82 from all over Japan participated.

Why do I put volunteers in the parenthesis? Well, reading the article I got the feeling that it may not have been so "voluntary" for some participants.

From Asahi Shinbun local Fukushima version (4/8/2012; part):

除染、除染というけれど、除染っていったい何をするの？７日、福島市渡利地区の弁天山（標高１４３メートル）での作業にボランティアとして参加してみました。

Everyone talks about decontamination. But what do we do in "decontamination"? So I participated in the decontamination work as a volunteer to decontaminate Benten-Yama (altitude 143 meters) in Watari District of Fukushima City on April 7 to find out. [The photo shows the reporter stuffing the bag with dead leaves.]

　●落ち葉集め袋詰め　３時間で最大３割減

Stuffing dead leaves in bags, 3 hours, max 30% reduction [of radiation]

　雨がっぱの上下に帽子、マスク、軍手に長靴姿。２０～３０人の班で、区分けされた斜面を担当した。熊手で落ち葉をかき集め、土ごとポリ袋に詰める。記者もポリ袋を手に斜面に入った。

Rain jacket and rain pants, hat, mask, cotton work gloves and rain boots. People were divided into groups of 20 to 30 people, and the groups were assigned segments of the mountain slope. They raked in the dead leaves, and stuffed them, with the dirt, into plastic bags. I went up the slope with a bag in hand.

　普段、運動をしていないせいか、すぐに息が荒くなる。マスクから漏れる息で眼鏡が曇る。視界の悪い中、ひたすら目の前の落ち葉を袋に詰めた。１０分ほどで腰が痛くなってきた。

Soon, I was breathing hard. Lack of regular exercise. My eyeglasses got foggy from the breath escaping from my mask. I kept stuffing the bag with dead leaves in front of me. My back started to hurt after 10 minutes.

　集めても集めても落ち葉はなくならない。休憩に入ると、雪がちらついてきた。汗が冷えて寒い。

No matter how much I collected, there were more dead leaves. During the break, it started to snow. My sweats turned cold.

　毎時１マイクロシーベルト超のため現場での食事はできなかった。近くの県社会福祉協議会にバスで移動して昼食。地元の方が温かいみそ汁を用意してくれていた。

Because the radiation level here exceeded 1 microsievert/hour, we couldn't eat lunch where we worked. We were transported on the bus to a nearby location to have lunch. Local residents greeted us with warm miso-soup that they had prepared.

　近くに座っていた男性と話をした。群馬県の自宅を午前５時に出てきたという下瀬川正幸さん（４６）。「県外の人が多いなぁ。遠くから来ている人はやっぱり福島の子供のためにと思っているはず」と話す。

I talked with a man sitting nearby. Masayuki Shimosegawa (age 46) left his home in Gunma Prefecture at 5 in the morning. He said, "So many people from outside Fukushima. I think people who have come from far-away places are here for the children of Fukushima."

　またバスで戻り、作業再開。だんだんこなれてきたのか、袋詰めが速くなってきた気がする。

Back to the bus to the work. I thought I was able to pack the bag much faster now.

　午後３時ごろに終了。市が予定した１．３ヘクタールを除染しきれなかったが、落ち葉を詰めたポリ袋は約３５００袋に。３１５立方メートル分という。記者の班は高さ１センチの表面線量が毎時１．９５マイクロシーベルトから同１．５２５と２割減。除染効果が最大の班でも３割減だった。

The work was done around 3PM. We couldn't decontaminate the entire 1.3 hectares that the city had planned, but there were 3,500 bags of dead leaves. 315 cubic meters. The area that I worked on had the radiation level at 1 centimeter off the ground dropped from 1.95 microsievert/hour to 1.525 microsievert/hour, 20% reduction. The maximum reduction was at most 30%.

　ボランティアには秋田県から熊本県まで８２人が県外から参加。県内からの参加者や地元住民、県職員、福島市職員を合わせた計３８７人が作業に当たった。

82 people from Akita Prefecture to Kumamoto Prefecture [Kyushu] joined as volunteers. There were also participants from inside Fukushima Prefecture, the local residents, workers from the Fukushima prefectural government and Fukushima City government. In total, 387 people did the decontamination.

　作業は午前と午後で計約３時間。福島市から貸与された線量計では４マイクロシーベルト。会社に戻ると、体が重く感じることに気づいた。日頃の運動不足が身に染みた。

I worked for 3 hours total, in the morning and in the afternoon. The dosimeter that Fukushima City let us use showed 4 microsieverts. I went back to my office. I noticed that my body felt heavy. I really should have done more regular exercise.

4 microsieverts external radiation exposure from 3-hour work. Just smile, radiation is good for you, say many nuclear experts all around the world.

Benten-Yama Park is a known hot spot in the (already high-radiation) Watari District in Fukushima City. The Ministry of Education and Science (MEXT) has the website for real-time measurement of radiation levels in Fukushima, the MEXT page for Benten-Yama Park shows 1.362 microsievert/hour radiation at 50 centimeters off the ground, at 6:50AM on April 9, 2012.

Tweet

Japanese Magazine "Sensationalizes": "Thyroid Cancer Suspected on Two Children Aged 4 and 7"

One of the major Japanese weekly magazine, Shukan Bunshun has a sensational article on its latest issue about thyroid "cancer" in children who evacuated from Fukushima. Let's see if the Japanese MSM and the government attack the publisher for "fear-mongering", just like they reflexively do for the "international" media.

The article on the magazine's 3/1/2012 issue is available only in print. The following is what little I gathered from tweets including the photo of the printed article in Japan:

Serious abnormalities found in 11 evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture
4-year-old and 7-year-old may have "thyroid cancer"
Medically impossible nodules and cysts...
Shunichi Yamashita, Vice President of Fukushima Medical University emailed "Do not test them." (Title of the Bunshun article)

Reporting by "Oshidori Maco", comedian who's been reporting on the Fukushima accident since last year, and particularly supporting people of Iitate-mura.

7-year old girl had 8 millimeter nodule on her thyroid. The nodule was found with microcalcifications [which may be a sign of cancer]. Her 2-year-old sister also had 2 millimeter nodule with microcalcifications. The doctor who examined them said "I've never seen anything like this."

7-year-old girl and 4-year-old boy both evacuated from Koriyama City in Fukushima.

7-year-old girl subsequently underwent the blood test, and the nodule was determined to be "benign".

2 children and 9 adults were tested in Sapporo, and thyroid cancer was suspected. One of them, an adult woman, has been confirmed to have thyroid cancer, and the surgery is already scheduled.

Orthodoxy by the Japanese researchers is that "it is impossible for children under the age of 6 to have nodules 5 millimeters or larger", but the doctor who examined them in Sapporo, Hokkaido says, "Whatever they say, this is the result."

In the case of Chernobyl, it took 4 years till the cases of thyroid cancer started to appear. The doctor in Sapporo is shocked by the quick onset.

The doctor was in close contact with Dr. Shunichi Yamashita of Fukushima Medical University to confirm how the thyroid echography was done. Dr. Yamashita emailed the doctor "I request that you refrain from testing [them] on your own."

The doctor used the same method of testing as Fukushima Medical University.

The magazine apparently didn't tell the doctor that the magazine was writing an article, and he held a press conference protesting against the magazine.

The doctor's press conference handout is here (PDF).

I watched his press conference, but 10 minutes into his rambling and spaced-out press conference all he said was there should be a system to continuously monitor the thyroids for Fukushima residents. So? What's his beef with the Bunshun article?

• The reporter ("Oshidori Maco") didn't identify herself as the reporter for Shukan Bunshun. She didn't tell him that the article was about to be published. She apparently told one of the evacuees, who told the doctor.
  

• The number of people tested was different.

• Dr. Shunichi Yamashita didn't say such a thing.

• He wanted to publish a paper, but now the story is out, and he's very unhappy about it.
  

So the reporter blew the doctor's chance for having his article published in a peer-review magazine. Apparently she snuck into one of the informational meetings that the doctor had with the Fukushima evacuees without telling him she was reporting for the magazine.

Kouta Kinoshita says in his blog that he and several others had known about it, and were trying to find a better way to disclose the information with the agreement of all the parties involved (parents, for one). He seems rather upset with the reporter. He also quotes an expert of the Chernobyl accident he consults with:

「悪性のガンかどうかは、この段階では、わからないはずです。僕は記事はオーバーラインと思います。今のところは、なんだかわからない腫瘍ができているということ。進行は早いし、放射性物質による健康被害の可能性が強いのは間違いないと思います。良性であっても、放射能による健康被害の範疇に入るのでは、という認識です。3.11.前には、子供にはありえない事ですから」

"At this stage, you can't tell whether it is a malignant tumor. I personally think the Bunshun article went overboard. What's known now is that they have some tumor of unknown nature. The growth is rapid, and no doubt it is a health damage from radioactive materials. I think it can be categorized as damage caused by radiation, even if the growth is benign, because before March 11 [accident], such growth was impossible in children."

Others say before the March 11, 2011 nuclear accident, no one tested children younger than 6 years old for thyroid problems, so there is no baseline data to begin with.

It looks like Shukan Bunshun blew things out of proportion and in the process blew the chance for the doctor to get published. (Not that I feel sorry for the doctor for his lost chance...)

Tweet

Donation via German Red Cross Used to Build Library, Nursery School for Evacuees in Koriyama City in Fukushima

I'm not really sure that's how German people who donated to the German Red Cross for the disaster relief for the March 11 earthquake/tsunami wanted the money to be spent.

The library and the nursery school are for people evacuated from Kawauchi-mura in a planned evacuation zone to Koriyama City. Koriyama City is in high-radiation "nakadori" (middle third) of Fukushima Prefecture, where pre-schoolers were found with 0.11 millisievert external radiation in one month in November 2011, with the maximum 0.66 millisievert. Certainly not a place where any nursery school should be.

But the donation from Germany was used to build a facility to keep the villagers from Kawauchi-mura in Koriyama City together.

(The photo is the German embassy official Claus Eilrich with Kawauchi-mura's village chief in the tape-cutting ceremony.)

From Kyodo News (1/6/2012):

原発事故を受け全村避難している福島県川内村の住民が身を寄せる同県郡山市の仮設住宅に、図書室や保育所などを備えた交流施設が６日、オープンした。ドイツの赤十字社に寄せられた義援金約４千万円を使い建てられた。

A facility with the library room and the nursery school opened on January 6 in the temporary housing in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture where the residents from Kawauchi-mura lives after having evacuated from their home after the nuclear accident. The facility was built with the money of about 40 million yen (about 408,000 euro, US$520,000) donated via the German Red Cross.

　住民同士の交流の場を作ってほしいとの村側の希望と、義援金で日独友好の記念にもなる支援をしたいというドイツ側の要望が一致し実現した。

The village wanted a place where the residents could mix, and the Germany side wanted to provide a support that could symbolize the friendship between Japan and Germany.

　施設は広さ約２６５平方メートルの木造平屋建て。村の教育委員会が管理し、村営の保育所や学習塾のほか、住民の健康相談などに使われる。住民が村に帰還する際には、分解して川内村に移設する予定。

The facility is a single-story wooden building of about 265 square meters. It will be managed by the village's Board of Education, and will be used as the nursery school, the tutoring school, and a place for health consultation for the residents. When the villagers go back to Kawauchi-mura, the facility will be dismantled and brought to the village.

The happy result that satisfied both the village people and the German Red Cross was to build a "box" (hakomono in Japanese, a construction project) that will be managed, of all entities, by the Board of Education.

Ever since the nuclear accident started in March 11, 2011, the Board of Education in many cities and prefectures in Japan has done everything in their power to expose children to radiation - having them eat beef and drink milk with radioactive cesium, making them harvest green tea in the rain, making them gargle with green tea, making them clean the yard of dead leaves and sludge, taking them to summer schools in the high radiation areas in northern Kanto.

Of nuclear experts, only Professor Kunihiko Takeda of Chubu University spoke against these school "traditions" mindlessly carried out all over Japan.

The night is deep.

Tweet

Yomiuri: "Relatively" High External Radiation Exposure for Children, Pregnant Women in Koriyama City, Fukushima

For the month of November 2011, one pre-schooler in Koriyama City in the high-radiation "Nakadori" region in Fukushima Prefecture was found with 0.66 millisievert of external radiation exposure. The maximum number for the pregnant women was 0.36 millisievert.

On an annualized basis, 7.92 millisieverts from external radiation alone for the particular child, and 4.32 millisieverts for the pregnant woman. The average for the children was 0.11 millisievert, which would be 1.32 millisievert in one year. The average for the pregnant women was 0.10 millisievert, which would be 1.20 millisievert in one year.

Just a friendly reminder: Before the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident, the natural "external" radiation exposure average in Japan was 0.59 millisievert per year.

Another reminder: Koriyama City started fitting the children and pregnant women with glass badges starting November 2011. There is no way of knowing what the radiation exposure may have been in the earlier months.

Yomiuri Shinbun (1/6/2012):

福島県郡山市は６日、市内の未就学児と妊婦の昨年１１月の１か月間の個人積算線量の測定値で、未就学児１人から０・６６ミリ・シーベルト、年間換算では７・９２ミリ・シーベルトと比較的高い線量が測定されたと発表した。

Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture announced the result of cumulative radiation exposure in the month of November 2011 for the pre-school children and pregnant women in the city. One child was found with 0.66 millisievert of radiation exposure, which would be 7.92 millisieverts for the annual cumulative exposure, a relatively high figure.

　市では「今のところ健康に影響を与える数値ではないが、今後も調査を継続して対応していきたい」としている。

The city says "It is not the level that immediately affect health, but we want to continue to monitor."

　平均値は未就学児が０・１１ミリ・シーベルト、妊婦が０・１０ミリ・シーベルトで、妊婦の最高値は０・３６ミリ・シーベルトだった。

The average figure for the pre-schoolers was 0.11 millisievert, and for the pregnant women 0.10 millisievert. The maximum number for the pregnant women was 0.36 millisievert.


　市は昨年１０月末から、保育園や幼稚園、希望者を対象に約１万６４００個の線量計を配布。同１１月の積算の放射線量を測定してもらい、妊婦８９６人と未就学児１万５２３９人から回収した。

The city distributed 16,400 glass badges to children in the city's nursery schools and kindergartens and to people who wanted to be fitted with the badges. The cumulative radiation exposure for the month of November was recorded, and the city collected the badges back from 896 pregnant women and 15,239 pre-schoolers.

Tweet

#Radiation in Japan: It's All How You Define Radiation, and Koriyama Defines it "Out"

It is just a matter of how you define the problem, and Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture, in the high-radiation "Nakadori" region, has decided to "define out" the problem by drawing the radiation contour map of the city with a new set of color schemes so that people will feel "safe and secure" looking at such "low" radiation levels.

After all, the nuclear accident is "over", remember?

The map used to have 1.49 microsievert/hour as maximum, in red color. Now, in the new version of the map that accompanies the Koriyama City's official decon plan, 45 microsieverts/hour is the maximum in red color. 1.5 microsievert/hour area is now in a calming, safe-looking extremely light blue.

Would the residents of Koriyama fall for this trick? Probably yes.

The map from the "Koriyama City Renewal Decontamination Plan version 1" issued in December 2011 (page 5):

And here's the map in August, showing maximum 1.49 microsievert/hour area in red:

(H/T @chicksmbox)

Tweet

#Radiation in Japan: Koriyama Resident Measures Radiation Levels in His City - 42.85 Microsieverts/Hr on the Drain Lid

Armed with his geiger counter, the Ministry of Education's radiation map and the Professor Hayakawa's radiation contour map, he went measuring radiation levels in Koriyama City on December 23, and they were high.

Air radiation level at chest height: maximum 1.51 microsievert/hour

On the sand on the side drain cover: 42.85 microsieverts/hour

If the surface radiation is that high, it would be several hundreds of thousands of becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in that sand. No one does a thing, and life goes on, because all the national and municipal governments care about is air radiation at 1 meter off the ground.

But even if you stay outside in 1.51 microsievert/hr radiation all day all night for one year, it would only be 13 millisieverts of external radiation. Nothing to worry about, according to the new Japanese government guideline crafted by the panel of expert scientists picked by the government (in order to obtain precisely the guideline).

Never mind that until March 11, Koriyama City's air radiation was probably below 0.06 microsievert/hour like anywhere else in northern Japan, and that's how it has been for the residents for generations.

(H/T Aloha Analytics)

Tweet

Tokyo to Further "Support" Fukushima in 2013 Winter National Athletic Meet

How? By holding the speed skate events in the outdoor skate rink in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (11/30/2011):

東京都は、２０１３年に予定されている第６８回冬季国体について、福島県郡山市をスピードスケート種目の会場とすることを決めた。

The Tokyo Metropolitan government has decided to use Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture as the venue for the speed skate events in the 68th Annual Winter National Athletic Meet scheduled in 2013.

　ほかのアイスホッケー競技などは東京で実施する。東京電力福島第一原発の事故で大きな被害を受けている福島の支援が目的で、１９４７年に始まった冬季国体史上、開催都道府県以外の場所が競技会場になるのは初めて。

Other events like ice hockey games will be hosted in Tokyo. The purpose is to support Fukushima Prefecture that has suffered a tremendous damage by the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. It is the first time since the start of the Winter National Athletic Meet in 1947 that a location outside the host prefecture will be used as a event venue.

　都は今年９月、日本体育協会と文部科学省からスケートとアイスホッケー競技の開催を要請された。冬季国体で東京は、０５年にアイスホッケー競技の会場になったことはあるが、スピードスケートを開くために必要な１周４００メートルのリンクは持っていない。このため、福島県と協議を重ね、４００メートルの屋外リンクがある「郡山スケート場」（郡山市）を使用することで合意した。運営費は都など主催者側が負担する。

In September, the Tokyo Metropolitan government was asked by the Japan Athletics Association and the Ministry of Education and Science to host skate and ice hockey games. Tokyo hosted ice hockey games in the 2005 meet, but it does not have a skate rink that can hold speed skate events as the rink needs to be 400 meters long. The Tokyo Metropolitan government was in negotiation with the Fukushima prefectural government, and they have agreed to use Koriyama Skate Rink in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture that has outdoor 400-meter rink. The cost to operate the rink will be paid by the event sponsors including the Tokyo Metropolitan government.

It could be a "give and take", another wonderful Japanese tradition, like "dango". The Tokyo Metropolitan government will pay Koriyama City/Fukushima Prefecture for the trouble of hosting the speed skate events, and maybe someday soon Tokyo and Fukushima will sign an agreement to ship "low-contamination" disaster debris from Fukushima to Tokyo and burn it, just like between Tokyo and Iwate/Miyagi. Then the Fukushima prefectural government can pay the Tokyo Metropolitan government a "special fee" to facilitate the operation, just like Miyagi and Iwate are paying.

They must be hoping that people/sheeple will totally and completely forget about the nuke accident and radiation contamination by the time 2013 winter rolls around.

Koriyama is the city that is feeding school kids with locally grown and harvested rice from this year, and where 500,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was found from rice hay.

Tweet

Koriyama City in Fukushima to Feed School Kids with Local Rice Harvested This Year

Did anyone say in the comment section that it was a duty of adults to protect children? I guess not in Koriyama City, which is located in high-radiation "Nakadori" (middle third) of Fukushima Prefecture and where 500,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was found in the rice hay.

The city will start using this year's rice harvested in the city in the school lunches, starting next Tuesday. Since the new rice harvested in Fukushima is all cleared for shipping as the sampling test has proven it is "safe", it is just a matter of time till it's fed to the most vulnerable and without voice - children. Just as the Fukushima government, headed by THAT governor, has been pushing ever since declaring "safety" on October 12.

Fukushima Chuo TV news (11/4/2011) via Nippon TV:

郡山市は、来週から市内でとれた新米を学校給食に使うことにし、きょうは、放射性物質の検査体制を保護者らに説明した。

Koriyama City has decided to use the new rice harvested in the city for school lunches starting next week. Today, the city explained the radiation detection system to the parents.

郡山市は、コメを出荷するＪＡ郡山市に対し、放射性物質の自主検査を義務付けたうえで、来週の火曜日、８日から、市内でとれた新米を学校給食に使う。

Koriyama City will require JA Koriyama, who will ship the rice, to conduct voluntary testing of radioactive materials, and will start using the city's newly harvested rice in school lunches starting Tuesday November 8.

きょうは、市や保護者ら５０人ほどがＪＡを訪れ、検査の工程などについて説明を受けた。

Today, about 50 parents and the city officials visited the local JA, where the JA officials explained the testing procedures.

ＪＡでは、玄米と出荷前の精米それぞれについて、放射性物質が含まれていないかを検査する。

JA will test both brown rice and polished rice before shipping, for radioactive materials.

なお、県内のほかの市町村では、来月から新米に切り替えるところが多く、どこでとれたコメを使うかなどを検討しているという。

Also, other municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture will switch to the new crop of rice starting next month. They are currently deciding on whose rice to use.

Pressure is of course on to use the rice harvested in Fukushima, which even some rice farmers wouldn't feed their family members with (see my post here, bottom third).

For consumers outside Fukushima Prefecture, there is no way of telling whether a bag of new rice contains Fukushima rice, if it is a bag of "blended" rice. There is no requirement to list the places of origin if the rice from different locations are blended. All the label will say is "made in Japan".

Convenience store "bento" and "onigiri" is very likely to feature rice from Fukushima. Some stores at least prominently declare that they use Fukushima rice.

While consumers can still avoid, if they want to, Fukushima rice by avoiding "blended" rice and avoiding buying bento at convenience stores, school children cannot.

A nation is utterly broken when the leaders think nothing of using children as propaganda tools, and excoriate those citizens who dare raise their voices. It's not just Fukushima Prefecture either.

No end in sight of Japanese nuclear horror.

Tweet

#Radiation in Japan: 80 to 120 Microsieverts/Hr Bush in Koriyama City, Fukushima

It's been over 7 months since the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident started, and it does look like natural concentration of radioactive materials may be happening in eastern Japan.

57.5 microsieverts/hour radiation from the soil in the city-owned land in Kashiwa City, Chiba sounded extraordinarily high when first reported, but maybe not so.

Fukushima Chuo Television (FCT) reported that the radiation level near the ground in a bush right by the railroad station was found to be 80 to 120 microsieverts/hour in Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture.

It is also possible that the radiation on that particular spot has always been high, and is being discovered only now, as more citizens are armed with personal survey meters measuring everywhere.

Koriyama City is 60 kilometers west of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Kashiwa City is 200 kilometers south, in the Tokyo Metropolitan suburb.

From FCT news (10/27/2011):

きょう午後、ＪＲ郡山駅前の植え込みの土から、１時間あたり８０マイクロシーベルトを超える放射線量が計測されました。

This afternoon, radiation exceeding 80 microsieverts/hour was detected from the soil near the roadside bush near the JR Koriyama station.

　高校生などが通学で利用する場所で、早急な現地からの除去が求められます。

High school students use the road for commuting. Immediate decontamination is desirable.

　きょう午後、ＪＲ郡山駅西口にある植え込みの土から、高い放射線量が確認されたとＦＣＴに情報が寄せられました。

This afternoon, a viewer informed FCT that a high level of radiation was confirmed on the soil near the bush located near the west entrance of JR Koriyama station.

　ＦＣＴが現地で計測したところ、地上から５センチほどのところでは、最大で１時間あたり８０マイクロシーベルトを計測しました。

FCT went and measured the radiation, and it was maximum 80 microsieverts/hour at 5 centimeters off the ground.

　また、ＪＲの職員が個人で持っていた線量計で調べたところ、１２０マイクロシーベルトの高い放射線量であることがわかりました。

Also, when we measured the same spot with a personal survey meter of a JR personnel, it registered 120 microsieverts/hour.

　高い値の放射線量が確認された場所は、土の色が変わっていて、線量が高いのもこの場所だけとみられています。

The soil at this location looks to have a different color [from the soil in the area nearby], and it is considered that the high radiation is only at this location.

　現場は駐輪場近くにあり、通学の高校生などが数多く通ることから、早めの処理が待たれます。
　郡山市は現地に職員を送り、詳しく調査しています。

The location is near the bicycle parking lot, and many high school students use the road. The quick response from the authorities is desired. Koriyama City is sending the city personnel to investigate further.

If someone stays on that spot with 80 microsieverts/hr 24 hours a day for one year, the external radiation would be 700 millisieverts.

By mentioning the soil is in a different color, FCT may be indicating that someone brought the highly contaminated soil and dumped it there. It could be. But that was the suspicion for the Kashiwa City's spot, too, which proved to have been wrong.

Tweet

#Radiation in Japan: Nosebleed, Diarrhea, Lack of Energy in Children in Koriyama City, Fukushima

Once a malicious "baseless rumor" on the net, now it is written up in a regional newspaper with readership in Tokyo and Kanto area.

Tokyo Shinbun (paper edition only, 6/16/2011) reports that many children in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture, 50 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, are suffering inexplicable nosebleed, diarrhea, and lack of energy since the nuke plant accident.

(The photo of the page from this blog site, in Japanese.)

click to view

Quick translation of the article:

What's happening to children in Koriyama City in Fukushima right now? Nosebleed, diarrhea, lack of energy - "Effect of radiation unknown" says the doctor

Report by Ao Ideta, Tokyo Shinbun, June 16, 2011

On June 12, a non-profit organization called "The Bridge to Chernobyl" (チェルノブイリへのかけはし) held a free clinic in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture, 50 kilometers [west] from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

Worried about the effect of radiation exposure, 50 families brought their children to see the doctor.

A 39-year-old mother of two told the doctor that her 6-year-old daughter had nosebleed everyday for 3 weeks in April. For 1 week, the daughter bled copiously from both nostrils. The mother said their doctor told her it was just a seasonal allergy from pollen. Her other child, 2-year-old son, had nosebleed from end of April to May.

The pediatrician from The Bridge to Chernobyl, Yurika Hashimoto, told the mother it was hard to determine whether the nosebleed was the result of radiation exposure, but they should have the blood test done for white blood cells. It was important to keep record, the doctor advised.

The family move out temporarily from Koriyama City to Saitama Prefecture after the March 11 earthquake, but came back to Koriyama at the end of March.

The mother said about 10% of pupils at the elementary school have left Koriyama. Each school in Koriyama decides whether to have the pupils drink local milk that the school provide, which tends to concentrate radioactive materials. In her daughter's school, it is up to the parents to decide. But the mother said she let the daughter drink milk with other children because the daughter didn't want to get excluded by other children for not drinking milk with them.

A 40-year-old father of a 4-month-old baby daughter was so worried that he never let the daughter go outside, even though she didn't exhibit any ill effect of radiation so far. He said, "I'm so worried. I don't know how to defend ourselves."

I [the reporter of the story] used the radiation monitoring device over the low bush near the place where this event was being held. It measured 2.33 microsieverts/hour. As I raised the device higher, the radiation level went down to 1 microsievert/hour. The highest air radiation measured in Koriyama City was 8.26 microsieverts/hour on March 15. Since middle of May, it has been about 1.3 microsievert/hour.

If you live one year in a place with 1.3 microsievert/hour radiation, the cumulative radiation will exceed 11 millisieverts. [And that's only the external exposure.]

A 40-year-old mother with a 6-year-old son was angry, and said "Doctors, researchers, they all say different things. I don't understand how the evacuation areas are determined. Take Iitate-mura, for example. They just let the villagers get exposed to high radiation for a month, and when the air radiation level got lower they told them to move out. We can't trust the national government, we can't trust Fukushima prefectural government." Her family just built a new house, and she was not sure how they could survive economically if they moved. If they moved, when would they be able to come back? What about cost of moving, or the psychological effect on her child? She just couldn't decide what to do.

Tweet

Highly #Radioactive Sewage Sludge in Koriyama City, 3,500 Tons Already Burned, 500 Tons Already Sold to Cement Company

Oops.

Price to pay, I suppose, for slowly forming a "consensus" on how to deal with the reactors at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. While the political heads gather to discuss what's safe to tell the general public, the radioactive materials have been doing what they are supposed to do under the circumstance: to spread.

Mr. Ishikawa is right. This is a war against the melted cores and radiation, not a time for a political powwow.

From Jiji Press (10:12PM JST 5/1/2011):

Fukushima, May 1 (Jiji Press)--High levels of radioactive cesium have been found in sewage sludge in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, the prefectural government said Sunday.

The sludge at a treatment center in Koriyama had 26,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram. Slag made by reducing the volume of sewage sludge had 334,000 becquerels per kilogram.

Massive amounts of radioactive substances released by the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant may have flowed into sewage when rain fell, prefectural officials said.

The treatment center produces 80 tons of sludge per day, of which 10 tons are transported to a cement company outside the prefecture for recycling. The prefecture suspended sludge recycling Sunday.

An estimated 500 tons of sludge have been provided to the cement company since the nuclear plant was stricken by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the officials said. Whether they were actually recycled remain to be seen, they said.

What's not clearly stated in the Jiji article is HOW they reduce sludge into slag. They BURN it. Talk about environmental hazard. So, not just dioxin but now the radioactive cesium may be spewed into the air.

Additional information from Asahi Shinbun (in Japanese, my summary translation; 3:01AM JST 5/2/2011):

• Fukushima Prefectural government is said to be "investigating" whether the radioactive materials spread in the air when the sludge is burned.

• There is no manual or guideline as to how to treat the radioactive sludge [according to Asahi, but it is hard to believe there is no guideline].

• The cesium amount in the slag, measured on April 30, was 1,400 times as much as the amount prior to the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident.

• There are 80 tons of sewage sludge per day, of which 70 tons are burned in the incinerator and reduced to 2 tons of slag. The remaining 10 tons of the sludge are sent to a cement company.

• The Prefectural government will provide the workers at this plant with dosimeters, and will test the other 22 facilities in Fukushima Prefecture.
  

• On May 1, the Prefectural government measured the [air] radiation level at the facility at 1.8 to 3.4 micro-sieverts/hour, which was higher than 1.6 micro-sieverts/hour measured at the Koriyama City Hall Complex 10 kilometers away.

• Under the current law on sewage, recycling the sludge is encouraged. 80 percent of the sewage sludge is recycled as building materials [like cement], and the remaining 20 percent is buried in landfills.
  

From Fukushima Minpo (Japanese, my translation; 6:50PM JST 5/1/2011):

The slag, made by burning down the sewage sludge, is used as part of substrate under the road pavement, but the plant hasn't sold the slag since the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident.

Radioactive cement, here we come. And depending on whether the reprocessing center is telling the truth, radioactive roads, maybe.

(h/t Robbie001)

Tweet

Japan's Minister of Education to Koriyama City: "You Make Me Look Bad" (My Very Liberal Translation)

The Minister is not too happy about Koriyama City removing the radioactive surface soil from the school yards to reduce radiation for the kids.

The public officials in Koriyama City in Fukushima are doing something to proactively protect children by removing the big source of radiation (soil in the school yards) that could harm them gravely. A very rational and compassionate thing to do, though it's just too bad that Fukushima I Nuke Plant continues to spew out radioactive plume far and wide and Koriyama's effort may be in vain in short order.

But it still seems infinitely better than letting the children play outdoors based on an arbitrary number (3.8 micro-sieverts/hr) picked by the national government for this emergency.

But what does the Minister of Education say about this effort? He effectively says to Koriyama officials "Don't be ridiculous. We've told you it is safe at 3.8 micro-sieverts/hr. You're overreacting, and you're making me look bad by implying 3.8 micro-sieverts/hr is not safe for small children!"

From NHK News Japanese (4/28/2011; now my more formal translation):

高木文部科学大臣は、東京電力福島第一原子力発電所の事故を受けて、福島県郡山市の小学校などで校庭などの表面の土を取り除く作業を行うことについて、「土や砂を入れ替えなくても屋外活動ができる」と述べ、冷静な対応を呼びかけました。

Japan's Minister of Education and Science Takagi commented on the effort by Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture to remove the surface soil in the school yards in the city's public schools in response to the TEPCO Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, and said "Outdoor activities are possible without replacing the soil and sand," and called for a calm and rational response [to the crisis, the radiation level?].

福島第一原発の事故を受けて、福島県内の一部の学校で屋外での活動を取りやめているなか、郡山市で は、これまでの調査で放射線量が比較的高かった小中学校と保育所の合わせて２８か所で、校庭などの表面の土を取り除く作業を行うことにしています。これに ついて、高木文部科学大臣は閣議のあとの記者会見で、「郡山市の独自の判断だが、土や砂を入れ替えなくても、政府が目安として示した１時間当たり３．８マ イクロシーベルト未満の放射線量なら通常の屋外活動ができる。３．８を若干超えても、１日１時間に収めれば屋外活動ができる」と述べました。そのうえで、 高木大臣は「大事なのは継続的に放射線量の測定をしっかりやることだ。学校の先生に線量計を持ってもらい、安全性の確保を心していくことが重要だ」と述 べ、冷静な対応を呼びかけました。

Some schools in Fukushima Prefecture have stopped outdoor school activities. Koriyama City is planning to remove the surface soil from the school yards of 28 elementary schools, middle schools, and nursery schools that have had relatively high levels of radiation. Minister Takagi said in the press conference after the cabinet meeting, "It is Koriyama City's own decision. However, as long as the radiation level is below 3.8 micro-sieverts/hour which is the guideline provided by the government [his Ministry, actually], children can engage in the normal outdoor activities. Even if the radiation level slightly exceeds 3.8 micro-sieverts/hr, they can engage in the outdoor activities as long as the activities are limited to 1 hour per day." Takagi added, "What is more important is to continuously measure the radiation level. School teachers should be fitted with dosimeters, and they should secure the safety [of the pupils]", calling for a calm and rational response [from Koriyama City].

Tweet