While the initial crisis at the quake-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has somewhat subsided, radiation leaks from the reactors emerged as a very grave problem.
While the initial crisis at the quake-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has somewhat subsided, radiation leaks from the reactors emerged as a very grave problem.
The situation is such that the distrust and anxiety felt by neighborhood residents will not be dispelled even if government officials simply repeat their assurances that the levels of radiation will "not cause immediate health problems."
At Namie town in Fukushima Prefecture, about 30 kilometers from the plant, radiation levels have reached 1,500 times their normal readings. In Fukushima city, about 65 km away, the level was about 100 times higher. Similar levels of radiation have been reported in many other places.
Officials continue to assert that such levels represent only a fraction of the dosage that a person is exposed to during a typical stomach X-ray procedure, but the comparison does not offer much of a reassurance any more. A simple calculation shows that spending several days outdoors in Fukushima city will expose a person to the same dosage given off by having an X-ray.
The rising radiation levels show that the plant is still spewing out dangerous radioactive substances that are being dispersed by the wind. In contaminated areas, radiation exposure is being accumulated from radioactive materials in the air or surface of the soil.
Residents, worried about exposure and their intake of tainted vegetables and tap water, are beginning to wonder if they can continue to remain in their own communities much longer. They are in distress.
It is time the government came up with the next step.
The government instructed residents within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant to evacuate the day after the Great East Japan Earthquake struck March 11. It was a surprisingly quick decision and effective as an initial measure.
But from now on, more detailed steps will be needed. Radiation levels have spread in patches, depending on the area and at the mercy of the combined influences of wind direction, land features and rainfall. Taking these factors into account, measures must be taken to keep radiation exposure to a minimum.
To draw up new measures, detailed, area-by-area information is essential. The information should include, for example, which areas are expected to reach accumulated radiation amount of 50 millisieverts, the level at which evacuation may become necessary, in terms of days or months. Data on pollution of soil, vegetables and water must also be collected more extensively and quickly released.
If surprisingly high figures are given out, it might cause tension and uneasiness. But it is only by squarely facing this stern reality that rational and effective steps can be taken.
It was not until Wednesday that the central government released a map of expected radiation amounts. The map was created by the System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information (SPEEDI). The map shows that radiation has spread northwest and south of the crippled plant.
Simply expanding the area for evacuation would not be good. Suspending human activities in wide areas will have an immeasurable negative impact. The stress felt by evacuees, living away from their homes in an unaccustomed environment, will be enormous. Many people displaced by the quake and tsunami in northeastern Japan have died in shelters and elsewhere after being evacuated.
At the same time, priority must be given to protecting pregnant women and children, who are more likely to develop thyroid cancer from radiation exposure.
More monitoring points must be set up in wider areas to create a pollution map. It is time to consider new measures by making the map public.