Publishers have revised school textbooks to weaken wording about the safety of nuclear energy while mentioning the dangers in response to a surge of requests after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant disaster.
Publishers have revised school textbooks to weaken wording about the safety of nuclear energy while mentioning the dangers in response to a surge of requests after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant disaster.
According to education ministry officials, requests for revisions were submitted for nearly 30 percent of the textbooks to be used in junior high schools from the next school year.
Heavy media coverage of the nuclear accident has also led to the inclusion of terms now commonly heard, such as sieverts.
Education ministry officials said about 1,300 textbooks are scheduled to be published for the next school year for use in elementary, junior and senior high schools.
By August, requests for revisions in 106 textbooks related to the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami and the nuclear accident were submitted. Ministry officials approved all the changes.
Among textbooks to be used in junior high schools, revision requests were submitted for 37 of the 131 textbooks to be published.
Publishers did not have time to include entries about the natural disasters and the nuclear accident before the screening of junior high school textbooks was completed by the end of March.
In past textbooks, entries about nuclear energy pointed to its high efficiency and minimal effects on global warming.
However, many of the revision requests involved major updates about the negative aspects of nuclear energy.
In its senior high school social studies textbook, Tokyo Shoseki Co. added an entry that said: "The 'safety myth' about nuclear power generation has been turned upside down. On the occasion of the accident at 'Fukushima,' nations around the world have begun revising their policy of promoting nuclear power plants, including deciding to shut down all such plants."
In its textbook for junior high school technology classes, Kairyudo Publishing Co. deleted an entry that said, "Nuclear reactors are protected by several layers of thick walls made of concrete."
Shimizu Shoin Co., in its civics textbooks for junior high schools, revised an entry about nuclear energy that said, "There is the danger of major damage (should an accident occur)," to one that said, "Major irreversible damage will occur."
An entry related to clean energy sources, such as solar power, was revised from "It has not yet reached a stage of complementing petroleum and coal" to "Large expectations are being placed on it."
Many textbooks also included graphics that showed the relationship between high radiation levels and effects on human health as well as explanations about the meaning of sieverts and other terms, such as "temporary regulation standards."
In its senior high school physics textbook, Suken Shuppan Co. included an entry that explained the effects of radiation: "It can be a factor in the outbreak of cancer in the future and can cause acute damage if the radiation exposure level is very large."
One expert said minor tinkering of entries had its limits.
Yoji Takikawa, a professor at Tokai University's Research Institute of Educational Development, said: "In order for children to grow up being able to make judgments about policy, it will be important to provide them with various kinds of information. While some publishers included entries about the nuclear accident and effects of radiation, they should have included more information."