Becquerel

3 Years After Fukushima: Behind The Skewed Data And Vested Interests

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 Wake Up World  April 25 2014

Fukushima_RadiationSpreadOnly about 5% of the directly discharged radiation was deposited within a radius of 80 kms (50 miles) from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station. The rest was distributed in the Pacific Ocean. 3-D simulations have been carried out for the Pacific basin, showing that within 5–6 years, the emissions would reach the North American coastline, with uncertain consequences for food safety and health of the local population.[1][2]

Fukushima: Skewed Data and Vested Interests

After the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns in March of 2011, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), a global federation of doctors from over 60 countries that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985, reviewed the conflicting literature and scientific data on Fukushima. They found that skewed data sources and vested interests made the information publicly available extremely distorted. Let’s have a look at data sources and governmental policies following the disaster:

Fukushima scientific radiation data is sourced from

– The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), who owns the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

– The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who has vested interest in nuclear energy.

Governmental policies following the disaster:

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Cesium Fallout From Fukushima Widespread

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Mizuho Aoki (The Japan Times) | RS_News
 November 18 2011

Simulation determines much of east, northeast likely contaminated.

Shuzi Sato, 48, stands in one of the rice paddies on his farm on the outskirts of Ichinoseki. His family has farmed the same land for 200 years. (photo: EPA)

Radioactive cesium from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant may have reached as far as Hokkaido, Shikoku and the Chugoku region in the west, according to a recent simulation by an international research team.

Large areas of eastern and northeastern Japan were likely contaminated by the plant, with concentrations of cesium-137 exceeding 1,000 becquerels per kilogram of soil in some places, says the study, which was posted Monday on the website of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers for the US-based organization said the study, which was based on partial data readings, is the first to estimate potential cesium contamination across the country. But they also played down the incident’s impact on the three distant regions.

“The levels are not something that should raise concerns over agricultural production or human health,” Ryugo Hayano, chairman of the physics department at the University of Tokyo, said in an email interview with The Japan Times.

The simulation indicated that eastern Hokkaido may have been contaminated with up to 250 becquerels per kilogram of cesium-137, while Shikoku and Chugoku were likely tainted with up to 25 becquerels .

The government’s soil contamination limit for growing rice is 5,000 becquerels per kilogram for cesium-137, which has a 30-year half-life, and cesium-134, whose half-life is two years.

Although the study does not cover cesium-134, the results indicate contamination levels were under the limit for most parts of Japan. It’s believed the two cesium isotopes were ejected in roughly equal amounts.

Hayano said that even before the Fukushima disaster, soil throughout Japan contained up to around 100 becquerels of cesium-137 per kilogram due to weapons tests in the Pacific and the 1986 Chernobyl accident.

But the study also confirmed that cesium contamination in eastern Fukushima Prefecture will result in extreme limitations on food production.

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