City in Fukushima declares August Decontamination Month

"decontamination month?" don't they mean "decontamination DECADE?"

Hiroaki Koide, a radiation specialist and associate professor at Kyoto University’s Research Reactor Institute, said simply removing the top 5 centimeters of soil has been shown to reduce radiation levels by about 90%.

Another clown-expert from Kyoto University? After all the erroneous info, wrong data, the SPEEDI epic fail, etc. who's gonna believe these people? Beware of these so-called "experts" from Tokyo University, Todai University, Kyoto University as they are very much involved with the Central Government in everything they do and say. About 85% of them are government-run "androids" trained to say what you want to hear. Holding their jobs, fat salaries and high status is more important than getting the children and babies out of there. Make no mistake.

Further, babies, children and pregnant women are the most vulnerable to radiation-related illnesses, and are generally advised to avoid exposure whenever possible.

And yet, they have made ZERO effort to evacuate more people and CHILDREN from these contaminated areas, all they do is: blah blah blah blah しょうがないなー

@Spidapig24

So according to this article its a campaign to bring back residents that are "spooked" now why on earth would anyone living 20km from the disaster call Fukushima be spooked. Could it be the incompetent lying scum called TEPCO or could it be the lying incompetent scum called the J government.

Right on, my friend, RIGHT ON!! (^_^)

You are right, water and plants and the food chain will be contaminated by the concentrated radiation. Also, the reactors haven't reached cold shut down and are still leaking. Many mistakes and faulty equipment mean that the air, sea and ground water continue to be polluted in a totally irregular pattern. I admire the people working hard and try to rebuild, but it should be in a different location.

Of course the first question one should ask is where does Minami Soma's water come from? Does it come from Lakes and Rivers in the mountains (as one would expect) or does it come from the ground water in the area. This is actually one of the (many) reasons why nuclear reactors in the UK are located next to the coast. Namely if it all goes t!ts up the impact on the drinking water will be substantially reduced than if they were located inland.

Incidentally, I've been to Minami Soma a couple of times and we had a Geiger Counter on both occasions which had readings that were substantially lower than in Tokyo. Still, I can understand why people have moved from there and are reticent about going back.

So according to this article its a campaign to bring back residents that are "spooked" now why on earth would anyone living 20km from the disaster call Fukushima be spooked. Could it be the incompetent lying scum called TEPCO or could it be the lying incompetent scum called the J government. The same two groups that have bumbled and fumbled their way through this disaster since day one. Oh and how are things going at the NPP these days, it seems that J media hasnt been reporting much about it lately so all must be good. Unless its the government censorship kicking in and they think no news is better than bad news.

Oh and you have to love their solution for getting rid of the contaminated topsoil. Lets bury it in a less used area, genius next thing they will use that are for farming or build a school on it. The brains in this country just keep on amazing me. Such foresight is amazing.

more absolute rubbish.The contamination is off the charts in these places.

If that's the case how do you justify the low readings we had on our Geiger counters on the two occasions i've been up there. Two different Geiger counters. Similar results. A friend has also been up and his Geiger counter showed the same results.

There must be an explanation as to why the three Geiger counters on three separate occasions gave results that suggest that the areas of Minami Soma that we went to were perfectly safe and certainly doesn't suggest that the results are off the charts up there. Far from it.

I can appreciate that, we drove through Itate and it was something over 2 where we were and I'm not surprised to hear there are other hospots where it's much higher. Minami Soma is a large city from the amalgamation of a number of towns and I'm sure that there are other parts which are much higher than the results we got which were VERY low. However they are clearly not off the board and claims like that make people like me respond. Inaccurate and unsubstiated by any real data. This is bad for the people near the area but despite what the scaremongers claim it's NOT as bad for most of us and I have zero concerns in returning to Minami Soma in the future.

Incidentally, I gave you a 'good' rating because it's good to discuss this properly.

But that's the thing about a spike, it can totally depend on atmospheric conditions. We had three similar results over three separate weekends and it suggests that the level is constant. a one off result, especially after rain and with the wind blowing in the right direction can't mean anything on it's own. Go back to the same ares again and if the data is constant it's a concern.

I've gone on record as saying this isn't as bad as Chernobyl and perhaps I need to clarify my stance. Chernobyl was a massive explosion which scattered radioactive particles high into the atmosphere which led to large contamination over Western Europe - mostly because it rained. I have no doubt that Namie, parts of itate and a number of other areas will have high levels of radiation but they are few and far between. There are many areas that are safe and comments like the first two about how this story will affect the dribking water without having any idea where that drinking water comes from doesnt help anyone.

It's not good for the people of Fukushima. But it's not anywhere as scary as some would have you believe for the rest of us.

Oh and 0.2 isn't high. It's lower than anywhere in the UK and substantially lower than you would find in the Lake District, north Wales and the highlands of Scotland. Not to mention lower than Cornwall and Edunburgh.

I think Rome had something like 2.0 from background radiation on any normal day.

This is not decontamination. This is merely moving contamination from one place to another. This should be called "moving contamination month" with the idea of off loading the contamination into TEPCO HQ!

And how do you know I'm an activist?

@BlueWitch, do not get too offended. You should take that as a compliment.

Most people in Japan have no courage to speak out and do not know what to do with serious issues surrounding them.There have been many good books written about the courage you may want to consider reading one day. Do not feel ashamed. You have earned my respect.

Pray for Japan

The washoff from the hosings and the mounds of contaminated topsoil are then moved to less-used areas and buried in huge trenches.

And then after some time, it will enter the ground water and then the drinking water.

"We decided that we could not sit by and wait until Tokyo figured out what to do,”

Wise decision, as all Tokyo ever does is pat themselves on the back for saying "something needs to be done" and then 'suggesting' the local governments do something.

Anyway, isn't it a bit late in the month to be declaring it 'month of this or that'? And I hope they keep on trudging and working after the month is done, unlike when police stop doing random checks for drunkenness and cut back on patrols when 'traffic safety month' is over. Good luck to these people, and I hope the government finally gets off its hands and helps out.

Sure, why not! I'll celebrate from the safety of my home in Kansai!

Happy Decontamination Month! (Oh, and please don't send us any more contaminated presents, like this top soil!)

I am just glad that these people are trying to make it on their own!

@Darren Brannan

They have been quietly dumping radioactive soil in isolated areas for months now.This is just Fukushima.Tokyo is producing barrel upon barrel of wate that can only be stored every week.sludge is being made into fertiliser and sent around Japan

That is just the way our corrupted/lying/scum Japanese government does these things, secretly. Shameless.

A timely declaration indeed. The info is filtering out at similar pace to TEPCO/JGov't.

@Darren Brannan

BlueWitch> Hiroaki Koide is certainly not pro-govt and may possibly tend towards the anti-nuclear side if anything and has called a spade a spade so far and given consistently more pessimistic appraisals of the situation than anyone else.He actually went to Fukushima to give a lecture to citizens in the worst hit areas and answer their questions honestly.He seems to be one of the few who pours scorn on the rubbish coming from Hosono and his tadachi ni kenkou ni eikyou nai ppl.

Ooppss, He's one of the very "few" genuinely good ones, just like Professor Kodama. Here's a link to one of his lectures about the severity of the contamination: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9sTLQSZfwo&feature=related

Thank you for the correction, by the way. (^_^)

@ Heda_Madness

The same general areas can have different readings for instance : IITATE, Fukushima Prefecture Radiation levels at the center of the village currently measure 3 microsieverts per hour. In the village's southern Nagadoro district, the figure is 14 microsieverts per hour. That's a big difference.

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/life_and_death/AJ201108176593

Glad things are straightened out regarding Hiroaki Koide. He's essentially sacrificed his career to oppose nuclear energy, and paid a price for it. That's why he's still only an assistant professor. The establishment will not promote anyone who dissents.

Here's a quote from Bloomberg on food testing:"Japan has no centralized system to check for radiation contamination of food, leaving local authorities and farmers conducting voluntary tests. Products including spinach, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, tea, milk, plums and fish have been found contaminated with cesium and iodine as far as 360 kilometers from Dai-Ichi." The legislature has had 5 months to make these tests mandatory.

Part of what we are doing is symbolic. It is intended to reassure our residents. It’s also just to show that we will not sit idly by

Ohhh... after many years, the comment above reminds me a movie of Kurosawa; the scene ending with a Japanese woman sweeping sand dune endlessly... It is a symbol of Japan and Japanese people who never know to quit.

I saw this movie with my parents when I was a little child. Ohhh.... I am getting older and I cannot remember the name of movie.... anyone remember?

Pray for Japan

@globalwatcher

"Suna no Onna"?

@lucabrasi, that's IT!!!! Thank you.

@globalwatcher

You're v.welcome. I don't know the movie but the book is excellent. Kobo Abe... a bit mad, but wonderful for all that.

@lucabrasi, thanks. I will get the book to read.

Pray for Japan

Removing topsoil does have an effect.With radiation the strength depends on distance and/or shielding. Physically removing contamination would have a beneficial effect.Of course there are not any storage areas for the waste and where is that radioactive topsoil to go? These are major concerns...Russia had a centralised clean-up but in Japan it is piecemeal and muddled. Thus, we are seeing slowly but surely,the whole of Honshu being contaminated

T otally E xpected P revarications C omes O stensibly

this is fantastic to hear! I visited Minami Soma while volunteering and this place is just lovely, it would be great to see more people in the streets the next time I visit

@naruhodo1

Bluewitch. I really wanna know what you are doing about all your issues with Japan. I mean, u r right, but i really hope you are doing more than just taking ur frustration out here. Are u actively protesting outside of government buildings? Are you trying to get other j people on board and actually doing something? Are you writing letters, getting signatures, standing outside your house with a sign, something? Please tell me you are otherwise i would lose all respect for you!　

I really don't know what do you mean or what your intentions are every time you reply to one of my posts, as if I was the only JAPANESE POSTER to openly criticize and stomp down on our corrupted/draconian government. I think you should ask other J-posters like YuriOtani. All I know is that "frustrations" have nothing to do with seeking "human rights" and better treatment from this government. Whether you were born here or not. And how do you know I'm an activist? Have you seen me outside the kokkaigin in Chiyoda? I have participated in countless protests and demos in my life, but that doesn't mean I'm the type of person that would jump a fence and lit a building on fire. The matter of the fact is, I am, NOT the only person in japan that feels discontent and dissatisfaction with this government. So get your facts straight. Whether you respect me or not, that is up to you. At the end, I believe in myself and that's what really matters.

@globalwatcher

@BlueWitch, do not get too offended. You should take that as a compliment.

Most people in Japan have no courage to speak out and do not know what to do with serious issues surrounding them.There have been many good books written about the courage you may want to consider reading one day. Do not feel ashamed. You have earned my respect.

Pray for Japan

Thank You, dear. You have also earned my respect and admiration as well. (^_^) <33333

@BlueWitch, thank you. I just want Japan and Japanese people to do better. I care. That's all.

Pray for Japan.

Thanks for the ex-skf blog link. Sharing info is our only defense. Oh, forgot about "lead"...

Bluewitch. I really wanna know what you are doing about all your issues with Japan. I mean, u r right, but i really hope you are doing more than just taking ur frustration out here. Are u actively protesting outside of government buildings? Are you trying to get other j people on board and actually doing something? Are you writing letters, getting signatures, standing outside your house with a sign, something? Please tell me you are otherwise i would lose all respect for you!　

They will be from more harmful Isotopes but they are also well within internationally perceived safety limits- not just Japanese and 0.2 is negligible. As I mentioned before, a number of areas of the UK are still affected by Chernobyl. Those of us who were alive in 1986 ate food that was contaminated and drank water. Many of us would have eaten lamb from the Lake District that would have been contaminated from the Windscale fire of the 50's where the British government carried out no checks on the surrounding farmland.

I totally understand why you wish to protect your two year old and if I had children I would also be worried about their health and safety however I'm also not one of those that believes that any radiation will kill you. Radiation is bad, but there are tens of millions of people alive who were more affected by radiation from Chernobyl than we are in Tokyo etc who can prove that isn't the case.

And thanks for the compliment but I've only done a bit. As have many, many other people. And if we all do a bit then hopefully we can help those who most need it.

"Decontamination month"? It will take hundreds if not thousands of years for this area to be livable again. EVACUATE from Fukushima NOW. Especially the children! You should have done this right after 3-11. I hate to even say that it may be too late for many people as they have already been internally irradiated. LEAVE NOW. Do not wait for daily nose bleeds and diarrhea to justify your leaving. It will be TOO LATE then.