34,000 Fukushima children to receive radiation meters

Simply not good enough. Get them out.

“The meters don’t protect children from radiation, they simply measure exposure after a certain amount of time,” said Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action, a private group involved in the petition. “Children should be moved out of areas where radiation levels are high, not used as guinea pigs.”

exactly, as for dosimeters it's business and they may produce as many as they want.

Much too little, way too late.

This is truly sad. I can only imagine the mixture of bewilderment and anxiety these kids must be feeling. All because of greedy selfish corporate (insert curse word here) s

Get out, now.

to monitor their exposure levels

So the area is all containmented? Is that the going vibe? I wish the government would release information saying "this area has fallout on it....." oh wait... they don't know... boobs

will they get anpanman or pikachu ones?

Epic Failure!-Thosepeople need help for the children NOW! A truly Shameful Lack of Leadership No matter what party controls the Diet!

I'm too upset to voice my opinion.

And what are they gonna do with the couple of million residents who are being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation? Tell them the readings are false?

They should be giving Prussian Blue tablets instead of dosimeters and keys to rental homes outside of the contamination zone which is probably 80km from ground zero.

So the area is all containmented? Is that the going vibe?

I think they are giving them out to show there isn't any need to panic... we'll have to wait and see what the results are but if they don't show large levels of exposure, it will hopefully calm a few people down.

Twenty millisieverts of radiation is roughly equivalent to the exposure a person would receive from an X-ray.

Maybe the author mixed up millisieverts and microsieverts?

Chest X-ray is 0.02 millisieverts.

http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationEmittingProductsandProcedures/MedicalImaging/MedicalX-Rays/ucm115329.htm

other sources say 50 microsieverts or 0.05 millisieverts

http://eq.wide.ad.jp/files_en/110315houshasen_mext_en.pdf

The x-ray machine at my dentist's clinic doesn't deposit internal emitters like cesium, iodine or strontium -- so the comparison is moot.

Hosono's objective is criminally negligent. These dosimeters will only show air and dust exposure, but do nothing to indicate the amount of contamination consumed in food. That is the real problem.

Insane. Move the kids, now!

I think they are giving them out to show there isn't any need to panic... we'll have to wait and see what the results are but if they don't show large levels of exposure, it will hopefully calm a few people down.

By using the children as test subjects?

Internal radiation exposure found in 15 people surveyed in Fukushima

Radiation experts said Sunday they had found internal radiation exposure in all of the 15 people they surveyed in May in areas 30-40 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The experts surveyed 15 people aged between 4 and 77 in Iitate and Kawamata in early and late May, and found radioactive cesium in both batches of their urine samples.

Todays front page Special Feature Fukushima's cesium spew - deadly catch-22s

The more information the better.

But haters are still 'gonna hate.

Those of you who say get the kids out now, just how is that meant to be achieved? Where are these children left in Fukushima meant to go, who is going to pay for them to leave Fukushima, and house and support them outside of the area? Just how are these families going to leave the area and survive? For all the praying for Japan, I dont see much in the way of concrete offers of decent physical shelter for these people.

Whilst I think it is appalling that anyone, adult or child is left there, what is the point of saying 'get the children out' without offering a way to do this? No they shouldnt be there, I suspect noone should be in Kanto, but achieving this is another matter. Profitability and money will win over safety any day. These poor people are trapped there. At least dosimetres will give an accurate picture of how much radiation these children have been exposed to, which is better than nothing I suppose. Will it also measure internal exposure through food and water, or just the radioactivity in the areas these children pass through?

Todays front page Special Feature Fukushima's cesium spew - deadly catch-22s

This article talks about Prussian Blue.

There is a common proven purge for cesium 137 called Prussian Blue (PB), but Japan blocks access to it with a tangle of catch-22s.

What Gwrag said. I'd guess that families with means long ago moved elsewhere. That said, it's hard to imagine that the number of remaining children would be so high at this stage in other nations. Consequences be damned, you have no choice where your children are concerned. I say this with tremendous sympathy for the parents involved but...

"The meters don’t protect children from radiation, they simply measure exposure after a certain amount of time,” said Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action, a private group involved in the petition. “Children should be moved out of areas where radiation levels are high, not used as guinea pigs.”

Why is it everyone but the J-government and TEPCO seem to understand the dangers and potential threats and want the kiddies out? We're going to see and hear some very, very sad news in this regard in the near and long-term future.

It's no way an easy situation for anyone to appreciate. A major problem is measuring radioactivity over a large area of land - just imagine the problem, how many people do you need on the job, and how many radiation monitors are available. Checking every square metre over many tens of square kilometres of area.

The depositing of dust or other particulate contamination from the air is notorious for not behaving according to one's perception of a uniform deposition. No, it's very erratic. Hopefully any areas beyond the 20 km exclusion zone will only have very light contamination, if any at all.

Is any further airborne particulate radioactive contamination arising from the three damaged Dai-Ichi units and the fuel pool of unit 4? Only TEPCO can answer that question, but I haven't come across any recent statements about it in their frequent news releases. The lower TEPCO can keep the temperature of the fuel down so will less airborne contamination arise, or none at all.

Parents can only hope that the personal dosimeters which are being, or already have been, issued to children will show only very minimal exposure above the natural ionizing radiation background. No one can be sure until the first results of processing the personal dosimeters become available.

"Hopefully any areas beyond the 20 km exclusion zone will only have very light contamination, if any at all."

Seriously ? Radioactive hotspots exceeding the evacuation limit are being uncovered all over the place on a daily basis outside the 20 km zone. The Japanese government’s nuclear task force just announced in fact that they will assist the evacuation of families in small areas on a household-by-household basis outside the state-designated zone where accumulative radiation are projected to have have annual radiation readings of more than 20 millisieverts.

Dozens of households in one section in Haramachi, Minami-Soma, and three sections in the Ryozen area of Date, each, will be designated for recommended evacuation and assistance. Fukushima City has arguably even become a place where children should not live. Officials are trying to get the levels down to 10 but during nonemergency times, the annual amount of radiation permitted for ordinary people should be 1 millisievert except for natural radiation.

By using the children as test subjects?

No, by showing that the readings regarding atmospheric radiation levels are not fake/erroneous.

Oh Japan, these are your children, your future,34,000 little ones, no matter how small or large the risks to thier health may be, this is unknown territory. Do you realy have any idea what the consequenceis might be? Why risk it, get the little ones out now and their parents.

Summer's coming and honest water radiation levels are still not commonly, or even readily available - oh, sorry I forgot to mention that data for ground and air radiation pollution is also not generally available. What we need first is honest, easily accessible data, then decisions can be made - not data doctored to fit within government decided limits.

For all the posters that are saying get the kids out.

How many of those kids are you willing to take in till a new school is found for them and/or till their parents can find a new place to live as well as new work after giving theirs up to get the kids out.

Those Families still got places to live as well as Jobs and/or Businesses up there.

Zenny11; If there is found to be a health danger to the children they should be evacuated immediately with no expense spared. Children will be more effected by radiation so they are the main priority. I would gladly look after a child if it was in its best interest in times such as these and i am sure many others would as well.

There is also the complication of local officials who may oppose their city being placed within any evacuation zone if the step would be compulsory because it could further damage the reputation of the city’s farm produce and other goods.

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201106170197.html