“Our data (2) in fact confirm that of the Government’s own monitoring from the same area (3). There is no question over the authenticity or veracity of the radiation measurements nor the very real threat they pose to people living in the area.”
“Where we differ with the Japanese government is on the action needed to protect people from the Fukushima crisis. Contamination levels in Iitate are high enough to require evacuation (4) from the area, especially children and pregnant women. Remaining in Iitate for just a few days could mean receiving the maximum permissible annual dose of radiation”.
“Claims by the government that the Fukushima crisis had prompted most people to voluntarily leave Iitate are also false – a small proportion of people did leave, but the rest remain, living their daily lives”.
“The Japanese authorities must stop playing politics with people's health, they must determine evacuation zones (5) around the Fukushima nuclear plant that reflect the radiation levels being found in the environment. In addition to coming clean on the true dangers of the current nuclear crisis, the smartest move for Japan and governments around the world is heavily invest in energy efficiency, and redouble their efforts to harness safe and secure renewable energy sources.”
ENDS
CONTACTS
For more information about Greenpeace radioactivity monitoring work in Fukushima please contact:
Greenpeace International Press Desk Hotline, Amsterdam +31 (0) 20 7182470
Kaoru Narisawa, Greenpeace media, in Japan, +81 (0) 80 6558 4446
Photography and video from the radiation monitoring are available:
Greenpeace Picture Desk (Amsterdam): pdeskint@greenpeace.org +31 624 941 965
Greenpeace International Video Desk (Amsterdam): +31 6 46 16 2015
NOTES
(1) Japan rejects Greenpeace argument for expanding evacuation zone http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/japan-rejects-greenpeace-argument-for-expanding-evacuation-zone
(2) The team measured radiation of between 7 and 10 micro Sievert per hour in the town of Iitate, on Sunday March 27th. The levels detected refer to external radiation, and do not take into account the further risks such of ingestion or inhalation. The annual limit for accumulated dose for members of the public is 1000 micro Sieverts.
(3) The Fukushima Prefectural Government has been measuring the radiation levels in Iitate and confirming consistent and even higher range of radiation levels during the past two weeks.
- on March 27 they found levels 8.2 uSv/h
- on March 15 they found 44.7 uSv/h
http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/j/20-30km18.pdf
(4) The Japanese government stated on March 27th that “most” of the population of Iitate had voluntarily evacuated. However, earlier reports, suggest that just 10% of the residents had evacuated:
http://www.news24.jp/articles/2011/03/20/07178944.html#
(5) The current official evacuation zone is 20km around Fukushima, while between 20km and 30km is an area where people are advised to stay indoors.