SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Japanese Gov't Hid Radiation Information from Public
Japan withheld US-provided radiation maps in days after Fukushima disaster
Jun 19, 2012
The Japanese government admitted on Monday that it did not use U.S.-provided maps showing the spread of radiation in the days after the Fukushima nuclear disaster to evacuate residents in areas with spiked radiation levels.
The newspaper Asahi Shimbun reports that Tetsuya Yamamoto, deputy director-general for safety examination of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), told reporters today that the U.S. provided detailed radiation maps taken by the U.S. Energy Department using U.S. military planes on three occasions in the week after the Fukushima disaster began on March 11.
The information, showing residents in an area northwest of the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant were being exposed to their annual permissible dose of radiation within only eight hours, was not made public, and those residents were not evacuated.
Industry Minister Yukio Edano told reporters today, "It is extremely regrettable that this information was not shared or utilized properly within the government and I have no words to apologize, especially to the disaster victims."
The news of the radiation map blackout comes days after Japan announced it would restart two reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant despite the majority of Japanese people being strongly against nuclear power.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said of the restart, "We are determined to make further efforts to restore people's trust in nuclear policy and safety regulations."
* * *
Agence France-Presse: Japan sorry for not using US radiation map
Tokyo - A Japanese minister apologized on Tuesday for the nation's failure to make use of a United States-made map showing how radiation was spreading from crippled reactors in the days after the Fukushima crisis.
Tokyo admitted that confusion among government departments meant the map was never used and evacuees were not directed away from areas where radiation from the leaking nuclear plant was spiking.
* * *
Kyodo News: Japan sat on U.S. radiation maps showing immediate fallout from nuke crisis
From March 17 to 19, U.S. military aircraft collected radiation data in an area with a 45-km radius from the plant for the U.S. Department of Energy. The data showed that more than 125 microsieverts of radiation per hour was leaking as far as about 25 km northwest of the plant, meaning residents in the area were being exposed to their annual permissible dose within just eight hours.
# # #
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The Japanese government admitted on Monday that it did not use U.S.-provided maps showing the spread of radiation in the days after the Fukushima nuclear disaster to evacuate residents in areas with spiked radiation levels.
The newspaper Asahi Shimbun reports that Tetsuya Yamamoto, deputy director-general for safety examination of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), told reporters today that the U.S. provided detailed radiation maps taken by the U.S. Energy Department using U.S. military planes on three occasions in the week after the Fukushima disaster began on March 11.
The information, showing residents in an area northwest of the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant were being exposed to their annual permissible dose of radiation within only eight hours, was not made public, and those residents were not evacuated.
Industry Minister Yukio Edano told reporters today, "It is extremely regrettable that this information was not shared or utilized properly within the government and I have no words to apologize, especially to the disaster victims."
The news of the radiation map blackout comes days after Japan announced it would restart two reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant despite the majority of Japanese people being strongly against nuclear power.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said of the restart, "We are determined to make further efforts to restore people's trust in nuclear policy and safety regulations."
* * *
Agence France-Presse: Japan sorry for not using US radiation map
Tokyo - A Japanese minister apologized on Tuesday for the nation's failure to make use of a United States-made map showing how radiation was spreading from crippled reactors in the days after the Fukushima crisis.
Tokyo admitted that confusion among government departments meant the map was never used and evacuees were not directed away from areas where radiation from the leaking nuclear plant was spiking.
* * *
Kyodo News: Japan sat on U.S. radiation maps showing immediate fallout from nuke crisis
From March 17 to 19, U.S. military aircraft collected radiation data in an area with a 45-km radius from the plant for the U.S. Department of Energy. The data showed that more than 125 microsieverts of radiation per hour was leaking as far as about 25 km northwest of the plant, meaning residents in the area were being exposed to their annual permissible dose within just eight hours.
# # #
From Your Site Articles
The Japanese government admitted on Monday that it did not use U.S.-provided maps showing the spread of radiation in the days after the Fukushima nuclear disaster to evacuate residents in areas with spiked radiation levels.
The newspaper Asahi Shimbun reports that Tetsuya Yamamoto, deputy director-general for safety examination of Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), told reporters today that the U.S. provided detailed radiation maps taken by the U.S. Energy Department using U.S. military planes on three occasions in the week after the Fukushima disaster began on March 11.
The information, showing residents in an area northwest of the Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant were being exposed to their annual permissible dose of radiation within only eight hours, was not made public, and those residents were not evacuated.
Industry Minister Yukio Edano told reporters today, "It is extremely regrettable that this information was not shared or utilized properly within the government and I have no words to apologize, especially to the disaster victims."
The news of the radiation map blackout comes days after Japan announced it would restart two reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant despite the majority of Japanese people being strongly against nuclear power.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said of the restart, "We are determined to make further efforts to restore people's trust in nuclear policy and safety regulations."
* * *
Agence France-Presse: Japan sorry for not using US radiation map
Tokyo - A Japanese minister apologized on Tuesday for the nation's failure to make use of a United States-made map showing how radiation was spreading from crippled reactors in the days after the Fukushima crisis.
Tokyo admitted that confusion among government departments meant the map was never used and evacuees were not directed away from areas where radiation from the leaking nuclear plant was spiking.
* * *
Kyodo News: Japan sat on U.S. radiation maps showing immediate fallout from nuke crisis
From March 17 to 19, U.S. military aircraft collected radiation data in an area with a 45-km radius from the plant for the U.S. Department of Energy. The data showed that more than 125 microsieverts of radiation per hour was leaking as far as about 25 km northwest of the plant, meaning residents in the area were being exposed to their annual permissible dose within just eight hours.
# # #
From Your Site Articles
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.