Photo Essay by Ryuichi Kino: Time Frozen in Ex-Evacuation Zone in #Fukushima

Independent journalist Ryuichi Kino went to Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant in June 2013, his fourth. Along the way, he went inside the ex-evacuation zone (no-entry zone within 20-kilometer radius from the plant) and took these photos, and posted on his Flickr site. (Copyright: Ryuichi Kino, all rights reserved.)

Kino wonders aloud in his tweet, "How do they expect the residents to live here? Will the tanks full of contaminated water and the reactor buildings that blew up disappear in five years?"


The following photos are only part of 54 photos of the set.

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Naraha-machi, where Fukushima II (Daini) Nuke Plant is located. Farm road lined with plastic bags containing contaminated soil removed from farmland.

Tomioka-machi, where Fukushima II Nuke Plant is located. The fence bars entry to the "zone where the residents won't be able to return for 5 years". As if the radiation is suddenly higher beyond the fence.

JR Joban Line Yonomori Station in Tomioka-machi. Nature is taking over.

Futaba-machi, from the distance. Half of Fukushima I Nuke Plant is located in Futaba-machi. The arch in the left of the picture says "Nuclear Power to Build Affluent Society and Town".)

Futaba Kosei Hospital. Doctors, nurses, and patients were still trying to evacuate when Reactor 1 building exploded in hydrogen explosion on March 12, 2011. Beds and stretchers abandoned in haste.

Okuma-machi, with Reverse Osmosis waste storage tanks, exhaust stacks, and tall cranes working on the broken reactors in the backdrop. Would you feel safe, returning to the area?

Okuma-machi. It looks almost normal.

Until you look up close.

Somewhere within the ex-evacuation zone. The survey meter shows 15.54 microsieverts/hour radiation (gamma).

Ukedo District in Namie-machi, along the Pacific Ocean. Total wipe-out.

Memorial for the dead, in Ukedo District in Namie-machi. Someone does come here (probably more than one) to offer flowers and drinks.

As far as eyes can see, plastic bags with radioactive waste from decontamination along Route 6 in Naraha-machi. As talks of building intermediate storage facilities for contaminated waste have stalled in the ex-evacuation zone, these bags are left like this in many locations.

Route 6 in Tomioka-machi. Buses carry workers to Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

Guards manning the checkpoint to the "difficult for the residents to return" zone. Kino writes that they are from private security company, and that:

以前の警戒区域は法的根拠があ ったので警察権を行使することができたけど、今の帰還困難区域は強制力がないので、法的には立ち入りを止めることはできない。中に入らないという制限 は、ある意味で市民の協力により成り立っているということになる。

The evacuation zone had a legal basis, and the police authority was used to enforce it. But the current "difficult for the residents to return" zone does not have legal force behind it, and there is no way to legally stop one from entering the zone. Restriction of entry is, in a way, made possible by the cooperation of the residents.

The national government is essentially telling the the residents, "At your own risk."

For more photos of the ex-evacuation zone by Kino, go to his Flickr page, here.

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Anything Goes in #Radioactive Japan under LDP: Government to Allow Rice Growing in Former Evacuation Zones, Areas That Exceeded 500 Bq/kg in 2011

It's not just the stock market (superbly bid up by Goldman Sachs so that they can sell to the suckers) that's gone wild in Japan. Everything and anything, including allowing rice to be grown in the most contaminated areas in Fukushima.

Here's the latest from the publicly funded news station NHK News (1/29/2013):

福島県内 コメ作付け制限緩和

Within Fukushima Prefecture, the restriction on rice growing will be loosened

農林水産省は、福島県内のコメの作付け制限を一部の地域で緩和し、おととしの検査で１キログラム当たり５００ベクレルを超える放射性物質が検出された地域についても、出荷前に全袋検査などを行うことを条件に、作付けを認める方針を発表しました。

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have announced its policy to loosen the restriction on rice cultivation in areas in Fukushima Prefecture, and allow farmers to grow rice even in the areas whose rice tested with radioactive cesium exceeding 500 Bq/kg in 2011, as long as all the rice bags are tested before they are shipped.

農林水産省が２９日発表した、ことしのコメの作付けの方針によりますと、福島県で去年作付けを行った地域については、ことしも引き続き全袋検査などを行うことを条件に、作付けを認めるとしています。

According to the policy announced on January 29 by the ministry, the areas in Fukushima that grew rice last year will be allowed to grow rice this year as long as they continue to do the tests including testing all the bags of rice.

また、去年は作付けが制限された、緊急時避難準備区域に指定されていた地域や、おととしの検査で１キログラム当たり５００ベクレルを超える放射性物質が検出された地域についても、水田の管理計画を作成し、出荷前に全袋検査などを行うことを条件に、新たに作付けを認めることになりました。

Also, the areas that were restricted from growing rice, such as emergency evacuation preparation zone and the areas where radioactive materials [cesium] exceeding 500 Bq/kg were detected in the tests done in 2011, will be allowed to grow rice as long as there are management plans for the rice paddies in place and all bags of rice are tested before shipping.

また、警戒区域や計画的避難区域、居住制限区域などに指定されている地域では、作付けの再開に向けて、ことし試験的にコメを栽培することにしています。
林農林水産大臣は会見で、「地元の意向を踏まえたうえで、作付け再開に向けた取り組みを後押しできるよう、準備を進めてきた。被災地の農業の再建ができるだけ早く進むようにしたい」と述べました。

In the [former 20-kilometer] evacuation zone, planned evacuation zone, and areas designated as limited habitation, rice will be grown this year as an experiment for the restart of growing rice [in the future]. Minister of Agriculture Hayashi said in the press conference, "Based on the intention of the locals, we have been preparing to help support the efforts to restart the growing of rice. We would like to see the agriculture in the disaster affected areas get rebuilt as soon as possible."

Intention of the locals??? What about the intention of the consumers?

Consumers have been too considerate and reasonable, I'm afraid. The most people on Twitter say about food contaminated with radioactive cesium is that they do not support or participate in the government campaign of "Eat and Support". Most of them (with few exceptions here and there) don't want to hurt the feelings of farmers in the contaminated areas in Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and northern Kanto. Saying they don't support the government campaign has done nothing to stop the distribution of contaminated food throughout Japan and beyond (in Thailand, for example).

It is not true that "all of Japan has been contaminated, and therefore food grown everywhere is contaminated", as people often quote Kyoto University's Koide as saying. From what I've read, what Dr. Koide is talking about is the contamination from the atmospheric testing, not necessarily from the Fukushima accident. But he doesn't make it clear, and people do not bother to make it clear.

There are clean(er) food items available from west Japan and Hokkaido where the fallout from Fukushima was negligible. And yet, the Japanese are told to eat food grown in the contaminated areas, so that the farmers there can make money and recover (so that the national government does not need to compensate them). Those who can afford quietly buy from western Japan. Those who cannot simply give up.

I've always disliked Professor Hayakawa's attacks on consumers who do not protest against contaminated food but who do against wide-area disposal of disaster debris which happens to be also contaminated with radioactive materials. I still disagree with Professor Hayakawa on disaster debris, but I have to agree with him on food.

If, for example, people who used to gather in great numbers in front of the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo every Friday last year had shouted "We don't want to eat contaminated food!" instead of single-issue chanting of "No restart of nuke plants!", I wonder what difference it might have made. I know it wouldn't have happened, as the organizers of the event was for "eat and support", and contamination in Tohoku and Kanto was non-issue for them.

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Japan's Reconstruction Agency Says Infra Will Be Ready in 2 Years in Former Evacuation Zone in Fukushima So That People Can Return, Now That the Agency Has "Grand Design"

The country is either in denial, or in delusion, or in both. Or in the same mental state when many truly believed that bamboo spears wielded by young girls could down the B29 bombers. It may have taken 26 years for the Ukrainian government to contemplate redeveloping part of the evacuation zone around Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, but the Japanese will do better than that and do it in three years since the start of the accident.

The Reconstruction Agency, modeled after the one that was set up right after the devastation of Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, says it now has a "Grand Design" (or Gurando Dezain in English that has a meaning only in Japan) for the recovery and reconstruction of the areas around Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

Well, the problem is that people have already started returning, whether the infra is ready or not, or whether the national government has a "Grand Design" or not.

From Tokyo Shinbun Evening Edition (part, link won't last long; 9/4/2012):

復興庁　２年後には帰還可能に

Reconstruction Agency says evacuees can return in 2 years

復興庁は四日、東京電力福島第一原発事故に伴い避難区域などが設定された福島県十二市町村の復興の在り方を示した「グランドデザイン（取り組み方針）」を決定した。避難指示を解除した区域では二年後には帰還可能な環境を整備すると明記した。そのためのインフラ整備や長期避難者への生活支援、地域経済再生に向け、国は「長期にわたって十分な財源を確保する」とした。

On September 4, the Reconstruction Agency finalized its "Grand Design" that lays out the reconstruction of 12 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture which have been designated as "evacuation areas" of one kind or another after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. The plan explicitly says the environment that will allow the residents to return will be in place in 2 years in the areas where evacuation orders have been lifted. To do so, infrastructure improvement, support for long-term evacuees and recovery of local economy will be necessary, and the report further says the national government "will secure ample, long-term funding to achieve them".

...

目標として二年後を目安とした短期は、避難指示解除準備区域の上下水道、道路を含むインフラ復旧を進める。五年後の中期は産業振興や営農支援により復興を加速。十年後以降の長期は雇用規模の回復に取り組む。

The 2-year short-term targets will include the rebuilding of the infrastructure such as water and sewer services and roads in the areas where the evacuation orders have been lifted. In the 5-year medium term, the reconstruction is to accelerate by industrial development and support for the farmers. After the 10th year, the plan will address the long-term goal of employment recovery.

除染の長期目標も示し、十二市町村のうち住民の帰還を先行して進める地域を優先し、自然放射線を除いた追加被ばく線量を年一ミリシーベルト以下に抑える。

The long-term goal of decontamination is also stated [in the Grand Design]. In the 12 municipalities, decontamination will be done in the areas where the evacuees will return, so that the additional radiation exposure above the natural background is limited to 1 millisievert per year or lower.

また、長期避難を強いられる自治体の住民が帰還まで他地域に集まって暮らす「仮の町」構想でも、国が受け入れ側の自治体に対し協力依頼や財政支援を行う。

As to the "temporary town" plan where the residents of the municipalities will live together until their return home, the national government will ask the host municipalities for cooperation and provide them with financial support.

It will be incredibly costly. What's worse, it probably will not work the way they plan.

What's even worse, in the areas where the evacuation order has been lifted, the residents are already returning to their homes without any electricity and running water. Their homes and lands haven't been decontaminated at all. When the national government started to "decontaminate" the evacuation zone last year, all they did was to send general contractors (who sent their subcons) and Self Defense Force soldiers to the towns and villages inside the evacuation zone and decontaminate the municipal government offices. What good is that for the returning residents?

The worker who has been tweeting since March last year from Fukushima I Nuke Plant was clearly distressed (I think it was either July or August this year) when he saw people who had just returned to their home in Naraha-machi (that's where J-Village, the staging area for Fukushima I Nuke Plant work, is located). He tweeted that these people were washing things in the nearby river. He told the husband and wife that they shouldn't be doing it (to which they answered they didn't have running water so they had no choice), and that they should wait till he came back with clean water.

He tweeted, "Their home is not even decontaminated! Why do the government return these people?"

So that the government/TEPCO (now one and the same, financially) does not have to pay compensation, I guess. I can't come up with any other good reason.

(Speaking of the Great Kanto Earthquake, the massacre of Korean residents after the quake was triggered by the rumor which was intentionally spread by Matsutaro Shoriki when he worked for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. Shoriki became the owner of Yomiuri Shinbun immediately after he resigned from the Police the next year. He was also a known CIA asset after the war. It fits, doesn't it?)

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Ukraine Wants to ‘Revitalize’ Chernobyl Area

Ukraine's Prime Minister Azarov wants to bring back residents to "abandoned homes, cities and residential areas" in "the contaminated territories adjacent to the crippled Chernobyl nuclear power plant".

Well at least he waited for 26 years, unlike the Japanese national government.

From RIA Novosti (4/23/2012):

Ukraine is currently working on an expanded governmental program aimed at sprucing up the contaminated territories adjacent to the crippled Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said on Monday.

According to experts, the radiation level in Chernobyl’s exclusion zone has significantly decreased in recent years, Azarov said, adding that outside the exclusion zone there are no inhabited areas in Kiev Region with elevated radiation levels.

“There are good reasons to revitalize, ‘give a second breath’ to these abandoned homes, cities and residential areas. These are additional work places and additional revenue for our budget,” Azarov said.

In late March, Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych said the country would begin the construction of a new sarcophagus at the Chernobyl nuclear plant on April 26, the 26th anniversary of the nuclear disaster.

The Chernobyl sarcophagus will cost 935 million euro ($1.2 billion) to build. Most of the money was raised through a donation drive among the world’s governments held last year, with Ukraine only contributing 6 percent of the total.

Construction of the confinement chamber, a metal facility 105 meters tall and 260 meters long that will cover the reactor, is to be finished by 2015, Ukrainian officials said earlier.

The destroyed reactor was covered by a concrete confinement chamber months after the disaster in 1986 but the facility has since decayed and now threatens to leak radiation.

(H/T anon reader)

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Part of #Fukushima Will Still Be Above 20 Millisieverts/Year 20 Years from Now

That's according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which continues to be in charge of regulating the nuclear industry because the new and (supposedly) improved Nuclear Regulatory Agency under the Ministry of the Environment is still nowhere to be seen or heard (and likely not to be seen or heard for a very long time, as things are going at this time).

Looking at the radiation map that the Ministry published on April 23, 2012, part of Namie-machi, Iitate-mura, Okuma-machi, and Futaba-machi will continue to be more than 20 millisieverts per year external radiation. They are basically the same areas that are in red in the map as of March 2012 (100 millisieverts per year and higher).

Also note that the air radiation levels in most of Date City and Fukushima City will still be more than 1 millisievert per year 20 years from now.

In the information blackout (natural and intentional) right after the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami/nuclear accident, people inside the 3 kilometer radius from the plant, then 5, 10, 20 kilometer radius, fled in the direction of the red area in the map along Route 114 to Namie-machi. Some then took Route 399 to Iitate-mura　and then to Date City, others through Kawamata-machi on their way to Fukushima City.

As the mayor of Namie-machi said in the investigation committee set up by the Diet, people were irradiated unnecessarily because the government didn't say a thing about radiation (other than of course, "no immediate effect on health").

The METI simulation maps on air radiation levels in the areas in and around the evacuation zones in Fukushima, based on the aerial surveys done in November 2011 (labels for municipalities are mine):

Air radiation levels as of March 2012:

As of March 2013:

As of March 2022:

As of March 2032:

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Kan Administration Declared the Fukushima Accident Worst-Case Scenario Report "Didn't Exist" After Reading It

The news of the worst-case scenario report submitted to the Kan administration by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission in March last year has already been reported, as I wrote on my January 2 post, but a little bit more information is coming from Kyodo News now.

It turns out that the Kan administration not only sat on the report detailing the worst-case scenario of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, but it declared the report wouldn't exist from then on, and didn't even officially recognize its existence as part of the government documents until December last year when the news of the report finally leaked. On the New Year's Eve.

So the core administration officials did the "three monkeys" - see no evil, say no evil, hear no evil - on the worst nuclear accident in the country, if not in the world while telling the citizens and the world everything was under control, that it was safe to play outside, that there was no meltdown at Fukushima, and attacking people who said otherwise as "fear-monger".

Kyodo News has a slightly different description of this incident in Japanese than in English. In the English version, the news agency simply says the administration kept the worst case scenario under wraps for months. But the Kyodo Japanese News reveals more.

From Kyodo News Japanese (1/21/2012):

東京電力福島第１原発事故で作業員全員が退避せざるを得なくなった場合、放射性物質の断続的な大量放出が約１年続くとする「最悪シナリオ」を記した文書が昨年３月下旬、当時の菅直人首相ら一握りの政権幹部に首相執務室で示された後、「なかったこと」として封印され、昨年末まで公文書として扱われていなかったことが２１日分かった。複数の政府関係者が明らかにした。

The document that detailed the "worst-case scenario" in which radioactive materials would be released intermittently in large quantities for about a year if all the workers at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant were to be evacuated was shown to a handful of officials in the Kan administration, including Prime Minister Naoto Kan, in the Prime Minister's Office in late March. But the report, after being shown to the administration officials, was sealed as "the report did not exist", and was not even treated as part of the official government documents until the end of last year. It was revealed by the multiple government sources on January 21.

　民間の立場で事故を調べている福島原発事故独立検証委員会（委員長・北沢宏一前科学技術振興機構理事長）も、菅氏や当時の首相補佐官だった細野豪志原発事故担当相らの聞き取りを進め経緯を究明。

The Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (Commissioner Koichi Kitazawa, former chief of Japan Science and Technology Agency) , a private-sector panel looking into the nuclear disaster plans to probe how the government was handling the crisis, by interviewing then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Goshi Hosono, who was the adviser to Kan and was in charge of handling the nuclear accident at that time.

For reference, here's what's available from Kyodo News English for non-subscribers:

The government kept a worst case scenario for the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant under wraps for months after the document was shown to a small group of policymakers in late March, government sources said Saturday.

A private-sector panel looking into the nuclear disaster plans to probe whether the government tried to manipulate information in handling the crisis, by interviewing then Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Goshi Hosono, environment minister who was then adviser to Kan, among other figures. Hosono was in charge of handling the nuclear crisis.

The document, created by Japan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Shunsuke Kondo at Kan's request, said that in a worst case scenario, radioactive materials would intermittently be released in massive quantities for roughly a year if all workers had to be evacuated from the plant, some 220 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.

Radioactive materials have intermittently released for nearly a year, both into the atmosphere and into rivers and the Pacific Ocean.

As you see in the photo below, the report was neatly presented, with colored charts and graphs. Let's see if anyone in the media or the government cares to upload this report.

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Yomiuri: The Government Knew It Would Be 170-Km Radius Forced Evacuation if Fukushima Had Another Explosion

Old news that Yomiuri Shinbun snuck in on December 31, 2011 says it would have been a forced evacuation in the areas within the 170-kilometer radius from the plant if another hydrogen explosion had taken place at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

It was in the report submitted by the Japan Atomic Energy Commission under the Cabinet Office on March 25, 2011. And what did the PM and his ministers do? They sat on it, lest the information might cause panic.

The explosion didn't happen. Is it OK therefore? No. A tiny group of politicians and government experts gambled the lives of people living in the entire Tohoku and Kanto areas in exchange for appearing as if they were in control and the situation was under control. They weren't, and it wasn't'.

But at that time, there was a full-on media campaign to discredit any and everyone in any country who dare reported things were not going well in Japan on the Fukushima accident. The Japanese government particularly attacked the foreign press, alleging the foreigners were spreading "baseless rumors" on the accident.

(Ah, those bad old days, when the first trolls started to appear on my little blog telling me I was lying about the accident and radiation contamination.)

From Yomiuri Shinbun (12/31/2011):

内閣府原子力委員会が今年３月の東京電力福島第一原子力発電所事故の発生直後に、「福島第一原子力発電所の不測事態シナリオの素描」と題した報告書をまとめ、同事故発生から２週間後の３月２５日に当時の菅首相に提出していたことが分かった。

It has been revealed that the Japan Atomic Energy Commission under the Cabinet Office compiled a report titled "A rough sketch (outline) of an unforseen accident scenario at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant" right after the accident started in March 2011, and submitted the report on March 25, two weeks after the start of the accident, to the then-prime minister Kan.

　報告書によると、同原発で新たな水素爆発などが起こり最悪の事態に発展した場合には、〈１〉同原発から半径１７０キロ・メートル圏内で強制移住〈２〉同２５０キロ・メートル圏内で避難―――の必要があると指摘。１７０キロ・メートル圏内には南東北や新潟県の一部、北関東の一部が、２５０キロ・メートル圏内には東京都や埼玉県の大半、横浜市の一部がそれぞれ含まれる。

According to the report, if another explosion, such as hydrogen explosion, happened, the worst-case scenario would require: (1) forcibly moving the residents within the 170-kilometer radius areas; (2) evacuation within the 250-kilometer radius. The 170-kilometer radius would include southern Tohoku, part of Niigata Prefecture and part of northern Kanto. The 250-kilometer radius would include most of Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, and part of Yokohama City.

　政府は、同報告書を踏まえ、最も核燃料の溶融が懸念された４号機について耐震補強工事を施すなどし、こうした事態は回避された。政府関係者は、「最悪の事態が起きても避難する時間的余裕はあり、パニックを防ぐため報告書は公表しなかった」としている。

Based on the report, the government ordered the anti-seismic reinforcement work in Reactor 4, where a meltdown of the nuclear fuel was most feared, and the worst-case scenario was averted. The government source says, "Even if the worst-case scenario had come to pass, we would have ample time to evacuate people. So, in order to avoid panic among citizens we didn't make the report public."

Looking at the Atomic Energy Commission's website, the report hasn't been disclosed to the public. Probably never will be.

Just like in the full-on global banking and financial crisis that finally hit in 2008 fall, no one with good connection with TPTB has gone to jail over the accident, and probably never will.

The Hayakawa map (version 5) below gives you an idea of the areas that would have had to be evacuated. The faint, outer-most ring is 250 kilometer, and the area includes almost all of Tokyo and Saitama, 3/4 of Chiba, tiny part of Nagano, almost all of Niigata, all of Yamagata and Miyagi, half of Iwate and Akita.

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#Radiation in Japan: US State Dept Does Say Risk is Higher Within 80-km Radius

When Goshi Hosono, Minister of the Environment and Minister in charge of Fukushima nuke accident, said "It's a great endorsement by the United States government on the Japanese government effort in winding down the accident", he was talking about the supposed decision by the US government to "shrink" the area for the US citizens in Japan to avoid from the 80-kilometer radius from the stricken plant to the 20-kilometer radius.

Here's what Yomiuri Shinbun quoted Hosono on October 8 as:

細野原発相は８日午前、米政府が東京電力福島第一原子力発電所事故に伴う米国人向けの避難勧告の範囲縮小を発表したことについて、「米国とは（避難区域についての）考え方のすりあわせを長い間かけてやってきた。我々の取り組みが国際社会の理解を得られたという象徴的な出来事で、歓迎したい」と述べた。

Hosono, Minister in charge of the nuclear accident, commented in the morning on October 8 on the US government announcement to shrink the area that the US government recommends for the US citizens in Japan to avoid. "We have been discussing with the US government for a very long time to come to a consensus on the evacuation area. This decision by the US government is a symbolic event that we welcome. It shows the international communities consider our effort in a positive light".

(Effort? What effort? Oh that one about spreading the radioactive debris all over Japan?)

And the US government decision as reported (10/8/2011) by the same newspaper which grew to one of the largest newspapers in Japan under the leadership of a known CIA agent and Japan's first Director General of the Science and Technology Agency (Matsutaro Shoriki):

米国務省は７日の渡航情報で、福島第一原発の半径５０マイル（約８０キロ）としていた米国人向けの避難勧告の範囲を半径２０キロに縮小すると発表した。

The US State Department announced on its October 7 Travel Alert that it will shrink the area for evacuation recommendation for the US citizens from the 80-kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant to 20-kilometer radius.

　この範囲外でも、日本政府が定めた「計画的避難区域」や「特定避難勧奨地点」は避けるよう求めているほか、妊婦や子供、高齢者は３０キロ圏内に居住しないよう呼びかけている。

Outside the 20-kilometer radius, the State Department asks the US citizens to avoid the "planned evacuation zone" [between 20 and 30-kilometer radius] and "specific spots recommended for evacuation" [outside 30-kilometer radius in Fukushima]. It also advises that pregnant women, children, and the elderly should avoid residing within 30 km of the plant.

　米政府は放射性物質の放出が止まらない事態を想定し、３月１６日に８０キロの避難範囲を設定した。原子炉の状態が落ち着いてきたことを受けた今回の緩和により、日本政府が設定した半径２０キロの「警戒区域」と足並みがそろった。

The US government set the evacuation recommendation zone of 80-kilometer radius from the plant on March 16, assuming that the emission of radioactive materials would continue. As the situation of the reactors at Fukushima I Nuke Plant has stabilized, this loosening of the evacuation recommendation [by the US government] is in line with the Japanese government's 20-kilometer radius "no entry zone".

Isn't it interesting that the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan invited Dr. Wade Allison right before this announcement to assure the US businesses in Japan that there's nothing to worry about the radiation contamination in Japan, by suggesting 1.2 sievert/year exposure is still totally safe.

In line with the Japanese government, that's for sure.

But what did the State Department actually say? It said more than the select reporting by the Japanese MSM, which is the part about shrinking the original 80-kilometer radius evacuation recommendation. Here's from the actual State Department "Travel Alert" on October 7, 2011:

Other Areas Within 80km of Fukushima Daiichi Plant

TEMPORARY VISITORS: Government of Japan data measurements show varying levels of radiation in land areas outside of the area described above, but within 80 kilometers of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. The U.S. government believes the health and safety risks to temporary visitors to these areas are low and exposure does not pose significant risks to U.S. citizens making visits of less than one year. We recommend U.S. citizens contemplating travel to these areas consult with Japanese authorities regarding local conditions at the proposed destination.

LONG-TERM RESIDENTS: The risks may be higher for U.S. citizens who reside for more than one year within 80 kilometers of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. Out of an abundance of caution, we recommend that U.S. citizens who choose to reside for more than one year within 80 kilometers of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant consult with local authorities to receive current guidance on expected levels of radiation and recommendations for reducing exposure to radiation. In addition, pregnant women, children, and the elderly should avoid residing within 30 km of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant.

So, the US government is saying that living within the 80-kilometer radius for more than one year may increase the risks, and should the US citizens choose to do so at their own risk they should get the information about radiation from local authorities. (Good luck with the last one.)

The Japanese government is entertaining the IAEA Decontamination Mission right now within that 80-kilometer radius. It will be also inviting 10,000 foreigners to Japan, free of charge, so that they spread the word via the Internet that "Japan is safe". I'm not sure if this is different from the previously announced project of inviting the social media writers with big followers to the disaster-affected area, but judging by the number of foreigners it intends to invite, it is a separate project.

(OK, it is a separate project. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will invite social media writers, and the Japan Tourism Agency under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism will invite 10,000 foreign tourists. Total 2.6 billion yen giveaway, courtesy of the Japanese taxpayers.)

A full-on "safety" campaign is on in Japan right now, using various media outlets (more later). The details of the US State Department's announcement are just that, details. Who cares about the details?

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Yet Another Government Survey of Fukushima Evacuation Zones

Now it's METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)'s turn to announce its radiation survey of air radiation (at 1 meter and 1 centimeter) of Fukushima evacuation zones, showing the highest air radiation of 139 microsieverts/hour at 1 meter off the ground (in a location in Okuma-machi, 1.5 kilometer southwest of the plant), and 368 microsieverts/hour at 1 centimeter (in a location in Futaba-machi, 4 kilometers west of the plant).

The radiation level at the location in Okuma-machi with 138 microsieverts/hour radiation at 1 meter off the ground is 201 microsieverts/hour at 1 centimeter.

The radiation level at the location in Futaba-machi with 368 microsieverts/hr radiation at 1 centimeter off the ground is only 63.8 microsieverts/hour at 1 meter.

The Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have already announced their own surveys of soil contamination levels in Fukushima Prefecture, just as the national government is allowing the temporary return of residents whose homes are within the 3-kilometer radius from the plant.

Now, is somebody going to combine all three and create a map that shows air radiation and soil contamination of each location? (Just saying.)

METI's survey was done in July in the no-entry evacuation zone within the 20-kilometer radius and the planned evacuation zone outside the 20-kilometer radius.

From the METI press release on 9/1/2011 (Japanese only):

1. Air radiation levels at 1 meter off the ground:

2. Air radiation level at 1 centimeter off the ground:

The press release doesn't contain all the detailed data for each municipalities.

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Japanese Government Plans to Allow Residents within 3 Kilometer Radius of Fukushima I Nuke Plant to Return Temporarily

This has got to be the biggest "Extend and Pretend" stunt so far by the power that be in Japan. Everything's under control. Fukushima I Nuke Plant is stable. TEPCO has submitted the plan for emergency cooling systems, which was immediately approved by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency the very next day. Everything's fine.

The Japanese government wants to have the residents within the 3-kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuke Plant to return temporarily.

Which towns fall within the 3-kilometer radius? Okuma-machi and Futaba-machi where Fukushima I is located. Okuma-machi is is also where plutonium was found in the soil back in April.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (2:07PM JST 8/6/2011):

細野原発相は６日午前、東京電力福島第一原子力発電所から３キロ・メートル圏内について、住民の一時帰宅の検討に入る意向を示した。福島市で佐藤雄平福島県知事と会談後、記者団に語った。

Goshi Hosono, minister in charge of nuclear plant accident [and assistant to the prime minister], indicated that the government will start planning for a temporary return of the residents within the 3-kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. He spoke with the press after he met with Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato in Fukushima City.

　細野氏は、「安全が大原則だが、（３キロ・メートル圏内の一時帰宅の）可能性を本格的に検討しないといけない時期に来ている」と述べた。ただ、原発周辺はなお放射線量が高いとし、「慎重な対応が求められる。どういった手順で、どれくらいのタイミングでやれるかしっかり考えたい」とも語った。

Mr. Hosono said, "Safety is the most important, but we're now reaching the point where we need to seriously discuss the possibility (of returning the residents in the 3-kilometer radius temporarily)." However, he said the radiation level around the power plant was still high, and continued, "A cautious approach is called for. We will need to decide on the procedure and the timing."

We're now reaching the point??

Now that the radiation levels inside Fukushima I Nuke Plant are expressed in "SIEVERTS", we're reaching the point where the residents closest to the plant can return?

August 6 by the way is the day that the Little Boy was dropped in Hiroshima. As one anti-nuke site that plans a demonstration in front of TEPCO's main office in the middle of Ginza, Tokyo says:

It was awful 66 years ago. It is awful 66 years later. Goodbye nuke, goodbye TEPCO.

Aren't we reaching the point of saying "Goodbye government"?

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#Japan No-Entry Zone: "Mr Kan, You're Leaving Already?"

From the reports from the Japanese MSM (Yomiuri, Sankei, 4/21/2011).

Naoto Kan, who has insisted on breaking news to the Japanese people "personally and directly" which has delayed every response to the Fukushima I Nuke Plant crisis, went to the shelter in Fukushima Prefecture where the residents of the 20-radius evacuation zone (now the no-entry zone) have been living, in order to break the news of the no-entry zone personally.

It was his first visit to a shelter in Fukushima since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The residents were frustrated as Kan simply repeated "Ganbatte kudasai (Please do your best/cheer up/keep up the good spirit)".

After talking with only a few residents, the prime minister was on the way out when an elderly couple called out to him.

"You're leaving already?"
"You're ignoring us?"

(Ordering the aides to take down the names of these pesky people, I suspect..) the prime minister turned back at the exit and went to talk to them. "We're doing our best for your children," said PM to the elderly couple with a 4-month old grandchild.

Sure. They are doing their best so that the toddlers and small children in Fukushima can be "safely" exposed to radiation by raising the annual exposure limit for children.

Government you can believe in.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: "Eintritt Verboten" for 20-Radius Residents

"Do Not Enter" signs erected, as the Fukushima Prefectural Police set up 65 roadblocks to control the entrance to the 20-kilometer radius evacuation zone which has now become the "no entry" zone.

(Don't use the regular roads, people.)

In addition, as reported here before, the select areas outside the 20-kilometer radius are now "planned evacuation zone" where the residents are "asked" to leave in about a month's time.

But wait, there's more. According to Yomiuri, the national government led by the increasingly unpopular Democratic Party of Japan coalition will announce the establishment of yet another zone which can be termed as "stay-indoor or evacuate on demand". In that zone, the residents will be required to be ready to comply with the government order - whether to stay indoors or evacuate - at a moment's notice.

Hmmm. Didn't they do this during the World War II? The US bombers are coming! (Air-raid sirens go off blaring.) Hide in the shelter!

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Less Than 11 Hours Till the Evacuation Zone Becomes No-Entry Zone in #Fukushima

And some of the residents who had to flee their homes after the explosion at the Fukushima I Nuke Plant are scrambling to come back home before the clock strikes midnight and the evacuation zone becomes the no-entry zone with roadblocks manned by the Police.

TBS News reports (in Japanese, 12:12PM JST 4/21/2011) that unless they have the special permits issued by their cities and towns that allow them to enter the zone, the residents will be turned back at the roadblocks. If they persist, they could be arrested or fined, though the government says the Police will do their best to persuade them not to enter.

(OK, that TBS News disappeared very quickly, though they have the similar news here. I don't know how soon they will take this down.)

Yomiuri says the residents within 3-kilometer radius cannot come back at all.

Did you see the poor dog on the leash in Futaba-machi in the CNN video clip? The owner cannot come back to take him.

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#Fukushima 20-Kilo Radius Evacuation Zone to Become No-Entry Zone at Midnight on April 22

Kyodo News English (4/21/2011) reports:

The government has decided to prohibit people from entering areas within a 20-kilometer radius of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, starting midnight Thursday, government sources said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan will announce the decision to designate the zone, already covered by an evacuation directive following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, as an off-limits area when he visits Fukushima Prefecture on Thursday, the sources said.

The government has already started conveying the decision to municipalities concerned, including Minamisoma and Futaba, they said.

(Full article by paid subscription)

It's not Thursday but Friday, but that's what Kyodo English wrote.

To clarify, as of 12:00AM on Friday April 22, the residents of the 20-kilometer radius "evacuation zone" won't be allowed to enter the zone from outside. Kyodo News Japanese says Prime Minister Kan will go to Fukushima on Thursday April 21 to explain the decision to the affected municipalities within the zone.

There are people who never left the area despite the order to evacuate, and more and more people have returned since. After the government formally declares the area as "warning zone" (i.e. no-entry zone), the residents could be punished for remaining in their homes or forcibly removed.

So, what was all that talk about how safe it was within the 20-kilometer radius? Professor Yamashita of Nagasaki University and the designated health advisor to Fukushima Prefecture, would you please kindly explain? The government is way overreacting, right?

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Japanese MSM's Own "Evacuation" Zone

I have no way of verifying this. From a tweet by @tosa_suigei:

Japanese news media outlets set their own "evacuation zone" [from Fukushima I Nuke Plant]: Asahi Shinbun 50-kilometer radius; Jiji Tsushin 60 kilometers, TV networks (other than NHK) 50 kilometers, NHK 40 kilometers. They have escaped to the safe distance, and have been criticizing freelance journalists and foreign media who have been reporting the danger within the 30-kilometer radius as "demagogues who exaggerate the danger". What horse s--t.

朝日新聞50キロ圏外、時事通信60キロ、民放各局50キロ、NHK40キロ。報道機関が設定した「自主避難区域」である。彼らは早々と安全地帯に逃亡し ておいて30キロ圏内の危険性を報道するフリー記者や外国の報道を危険を煽るデマだと批判してきたのだ。馬のケツの穴のような連中だこいつらは。

I have read that the Japanese media only conducts telephone interviews with people within the 30-kilometer radius while the foreign media (like AP and Reuters) and freelance, Internet-based journalists actually go there. Weekly magazines (more like tabloids in the UK and in the US) in Japan seem to have better and more truthful coverage than the daily newspapers and send reporters to the affected areas in Fukushima.

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But Wait, There Was More, to Prime Minister Kan's "Evacuation Zone Will Be Uninhabitable for 10, 20 Years"

The alleged remark by Japan's Prime Minister Kan that "the evacuation zone will be uninhabitable for a while; 10, maybe 20 years" wasn't complete.

The remark, which the PM allegedly said in the private meeting with one of his "celebrity" advisors Kenichi Matsumoto of Reitaku University and which Professor Matsumoto himself later attributed to himself, not Prime Minister Kan, has been roundly criticized by the opposition as well as by some in the ruling coalition, not to mention the municipalities in the evacuation zone and in the newly designated "planned evacuation zone".

However, the remark actually continued to include the following (from Yahoo Japan news quoting Yomiuri):

"For such displaced people, we have to consider building "ecotowns" inland."

そういう人を内陸部に住まわせるエコタウンのような都市を考えなければならない

Professor Matsumoto, whose undergraduate degree was in economics and graduate degree in Japanese literature, later retracted his initial statement that Prime Minister had said this; he know says PM Kan expressed agreement with HIS assessment that the evacuation zone would be uninhabitable for 10, 20 years and HIS recommendation that people from the zone should be relocated to inland "ecotowns".

What the hell is "ecotowns"? It's a brilliant idea concocted first, I think, in the UK to create new, government-sponsored towns that will be the example of "sustainable living" to combat "global warming". And the Japanese, strangely enamored with English words, didn't bother to translate the word and use it as is, "e-ko-ta-u-n". (I'm afraid the older Japanese have no idea what it is.)

This PM and his advisor think people will follow them into inland "ecotowns", no doubt named like "Ecotown Iitate" or "Ecotown Namie", some of which will be built by shaving off the hills and mountains.

In the Prime Minister's own words during April 1 press conference (translation by the Prime Minister's Office):

"We must then begin preparations toward reconstruction. In fact, we will go beyond mere reconstruction, creating an even better Tohoku and even better Japan. We are moving forward with the creation of a reconstruction plan that has this big dream at its core. I have received many opinions over the telephone from the mayors of each city, town and village in the disaster-stricken area. These opinions will be incorporated into the plan; for instance, in some areas we will level parts of mountains in order to create plateaus for people to live on. Those residing in the area will then commute to the shoreline if they work in ports or the fisheries industry. We will create eco-towns, places which use biomass and plant-based fuel to provide natural heating. We will outfit cities with infrastructure to support the elderly. We aim to create new kinds of towns that will become models for the rest of the world."

For him, that's "an even better Tohoku". Tell that to the 102-year-old man who didn't want to leave his home in Iitate-mura.

For the Japanese government, the earthquake/tsunami of March 11 is nothing but another grand opportunity of dole out more pork to the construction industry. Sparkling new cities on top of the hills and mountains built by the big general contractors, whether people want to live there or not.

(That's gotta be bullish for the Japanese stock market.)

And people who say they are incensed by Kan's (or Matsumoto's) remark about the evacuation zone to remain uninhabitable for 10, 20 years are not saying anything (except for many bloggers) about his other idea of shaving hills and mountains and building "ecotowns" for sustainable living.

Either the idea is too stupid even to get angry at, or they are waiting to hear more about this new opportunity. Big constructions provide jobs and other goodies like joint venture opportunities and palm-greasing. Dig the ditch, bury the ditch.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: First Suicide Case Over Evacuation Order in Iitate-Mura

A 102-year-old man killed himself on April 12 in Iitate-mura in Fukushima Prefecture, which has been designated by the national government as "planned evacuation zone".

Mainichi Shinbun (Japanese article copied below; 1:01 AM JST 4/14/2011) reports that the man lived with his eldest son and the son's wife in the village, and they were discussing the evacuation. He was said to be distressed about having to leave his home.

福島第１原発：避難苦？　飯舘村１０２歳男性が自殺

東京電力福島第１原発事故で避難することになった福島県飯舘村の１０２歳の男性が同村内で自殺していたことが１３日、地元関係者の話で分かった。

関係者によると、死亡したのは１２日。長男夫婦と３人で住んでおり、避難の話し合いをしていたさなかだった。自宅を離れることを苦にしたとみられるという。

同村は原発事故の影響で放射線の数値が高く、政府が「計画的避難区域」に指定する方針の地域。【金寿英】

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Japan's Prime Minister Kan: "Evacuation Zone Will Be Uninhabitable"

(For more on this insensitive comment, read the latest "But Wait, There's More" post.)
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According to Yomiuri, that's what Kan said to one of his special advisors Kenichi Matsumoto:

Talking about the evacuation zone around the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, Kan said "It will be uninhabitable for a while. For 10 years, maybe 20 years," Matsumoto disclosed to the press.

福島第一原子力発電所周辺の避難対象の区域について「当面住めないだろう。１０年住めないのか、２０年住めないのかということになってくる」と述べた。

松本氏が記者団に明らかにした。

So it's not safe after all? So who was the one spreading the baseless rumor, 風評, that was safe even within the zone?

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: More on Expanding Evacuation Zone - What They Didn't Tell Us

During the presser by Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) yesterday (April 11 Japan Time), one reporter from the MSM (Asahi, in this case) asked a question that caught Mr. Nishiyama of NISA off guard: Is it safe to let the residents return while the nitrogen is being injected into the reactors at Fukushima I Nuke Plant?

The Asahi reporter, referring to the on-going effort at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, in particular the nitrogen injection into the Reactor 1 Containment Vessel, asked:

"So the operation to inject nitrogen gas into the Reactor 1's Containment Vessel is still on-going, and that operation is to prevent a potential hydrogen explosion. And you've said the similar operation is being planned for the Reactors 2 and 3. That seems to mean that the situation at the plant is still volatile and possibly dangerous.

"But I hear the government is planning to allow the residents within the 20-kilometer radius from the plant to return home on a temporary basis. Is it safe to do, given the current situation of the plant?"

Looking at the face of Mr. Nishiyama and hearing the highly bureaucratic answer that came out of him after a fraction of a second hesitation, my wild guess on what he really meant but didn't say was:

"Ooops. (Why didn't that Chief Cabinet Secretary think of that?)"

What he did say

was something like:

"The decision on the evacuation zone is being made by all the Ministries and Agencies involved, with close coordination with the Prime Minister's Office and Tokyo Electric, and all things are being taken into consideration."

As a good reporter from the MSM, the reporter didn't press Mr. Nishiyama and insist on knowing whether the nitrogen injection and potential hydrogen explosion at the plant was taken into consideration in deciding whether to allow the residents to return home.

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#Radiation: Japanese Government Orders All Iitate Villagers to Evacuate Within 1 Month

Sankei Shinbun (12:07PM JST 4/11/2011) reports:

　東京電力福島第１原発の事故で、高い放射線量の数値が続いている福島県飯舘村に対し、政府が避難指示区域の拡大に備え、期間を設けて計画的に村民を避難させるよう要請したことが１１日、分かった。飯舘村が明らかにした。

Iitate Village disclosed on April 11 that the national government ordered the village to systematically evacuate the villagers in anticipation for the expansion of the evacuation zone. Iitate Village in Fukushima Prefecture has had high radiation levels ever since the TEPCO's Fukushima I Nuclear Plant accident.

　門馬伸市副村長は村議会災害対策特別委員会で「原則（村民）全員に避難してもらう。国は１カ月以内を目安に避難させてほしいとしている」と話した。

The village chief [actually he is the vice chief], Shinichi Monma said in the village council's special committee for disaster measures, "All villagers will be evacuated. The national government has told us to evacuate within a month."

Iitate Village's population is about 6,500. Already, about 1,000 villagers have evacuated voluntarily (i.e. without government order).

No information on how long the evacuation lasts, or where they are supposed to go. To the villagers, it may mean the end of their community that has lasted more than several hundred years if not a thousand or more.

A picture of Iitate Village from their website:

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