Fukushima Radiation in California has been hidden too

Published on Sunday, May 26, 2013 by Common Dreams Exposed: Japanese Officials Upped Radiation Yardsticks to Dodge Compensation Costs

Investigation by The Asahi Shimbun shows higher level was sought to lower number of evacuees, limit compensation

Downloaded May 26, 2013 from https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/26

- Andrea Germanos, staff writer



Japanese officials raised the level of acceptable radiation doses for evacuees of the Fukushima nuclear disaster to avoid increasing costs for compensation, Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported on Saturday.

A 5-millisieverts per year dose, the same level of exposure used as a yardstick to relocate residents after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, was proposed at an unofficial meeting of ministers in October of 2011, seven months after the disaster began, they report.


But just weeks later, the yardstick was upped to 20 millisieverts per year.

... at a meeting on Oct. 28, joined by Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura and Tatsuo Kawabata, internal affairs minister, participants appeared reluctant to approve a yardstick other than 20 millisieverts. [...]
“The prefectural government could not function with population drain under the 5-millisievert scenario,” said a state minister who attended the meeting. “In addition, there were concerns that more compensation money will be needed, with an increase in the number of evacuees.” [...]
The Abe administration in March decided to release by the end of this year a set of protection measures for evacuees returning to areas with doses of up to 20 millisieverts.
The move is apparently aimed at setting the stage for return of evacuees even if decontamination operation fails to achieve the target of 1 millisievert. [...]


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The U.S. response to radiation released from Fukushima that has traveled to the West Coast has been the same as the response of the Abe administration in Japan. According to an article by Jackie Braun in the April/May, 2013 issue of Sonoma County Peace Press, "Within days of the accident, results of radioactivity monitoring in North America ceased to be published. The Japanese government has been pressured by Washington to reverse its decision to phase out nuclear power. The Defense Department has ceased registration of U.S. service people who had participated in aid efforts to Japan and are now experiencing health effects from radiation exposure as a result."

We Northern Californians know that a wrecked boat from Fukushima washed ashore here a few weeks ago. Radiation? We have no idea. Once again, the corporatocracy is suppressing news about a poison that it is releasing into our environment, because if we citizens knew about the levels of radiation, we might force the nuclear power industry to shut down. We should demand to know what the radiation levels are in the water off our coast. If nothing else, citizens should go out to Sonoma County beaches and, using hand-held Geiger counters, should measure radiation levels themselves. Kelp washed up on beaches would be a good place to start. Or, collect a water sample and have it analyzed in a commercial lab.

Star Man