Friday, 11 October 2013

Fukushima's Returning Residents to Tamura 2013 福島避難者に帰還を促す日本政府




Insufficient decontamination forces terrible dilemma on Fukushima-area residents グリーンピース放射線調査:福島県田村市 除染後も政府目標値を上回る放射線量を測定――政府は被害者の帰還・移住の選択を支援すべき (Japanese translation is in the link below.) 
http://www.greenpeace.org/japan/ja/news/press/2013/pr20131010/
 
Tokyo, Japan, October 10, 2013 – The decontamination efforts by the Japanese government are insufficient, leaving Tamura City residents with a terrible dilemma: move back even though radiation levels remain too high or abandon their assets without proper compensation. 国際環境NGOグリーンピースは1010日、福島県田村市で101日から5日に実施した放射線調査の結果を発表しました(1)。田村市東部の都路地 区の一部は東京電力福島第一原発から20キロ圏内に位置し、避難指示解除準備区域に指定されていますが、田村市は11月にも初のケースとなる避難指示の解 除を目指しています。原発20キロ圏内では、政府による大規模な除染作業が行われたものの、空間放射線量は依然として高く、住民は今もなお継続する原発事 故の被害に直面していることが明らかになりました。
Tamura is one of the areas the government required residents to evacuate at the beginning of the Fukushima disaster for their safety. New monitoring of radiation levels by Greenpeace experts shows that after the government’s massive decontamination efforts radiation levels are still higher than the target of 0.23 microSievert per hour, the level necessary for keeping people’s exposure to radiation below the international standard of 1 milliSievert per year. A part of Tamura will be the first community in the Fukushima evacuation zone where the government will lift the order.

“The monitoring by Greenpeace shows that radiation levels are still too high in Tamura City,” said Rianne Teule, nuclear campaigner and radiation expert, Greenpeace International. “If people choose to move back, they face the ongoing risk of radiation. If they don’t move back, they will not receive support from government. This is a terrible dilemma for people.”

A team of 16 Greenpeace radiation experts from 10 countries measured radiation in the Tamura City region from 1st - 5th October [1]. The radiation levels they found on roads, in forests and in and around houses in this area are higher than promised by the government [2]. Extensive monitoring shows that 39% of the 18,180 measured points on roads exceed the government target level of 0.23 microSievert per hour [3].

In Tamura, Greenpeace found people struggling to rebuild their lives. They now face the threat of losing financial compensation when the government lifts the evacuation order. People who return to the houses they were forced to abandon two years ago will live in a partially decontaminated environment, surrounded by fields and forests where radioactive threats remain. The forced evacuation has split families and communities. Often the younger generation has decided to live in areas with lower radiation to protect their children. 
The losses that people have suffered from the nuclear disaster cannot be quantified, yet the government is pretending that everything is back to normal in Tamura,” said Hisayo Takada, Greenpeace Japan energy campaigner. “The government must listen to people and provide more support to help them to rebuild their lives, whether they return to their homes in contaminated areas or choose to start a new life elsewhere. Japan should make protecting people its priority, instead of protecting the profits of the nuclear industry.”

Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment, and to promote peace.

For more on Greenpeace’s work in Fukushima, visit "Fukushima nuclear disaster."

Notes:[1] This includes the “area preparing for the lifting of the evacuation order” (within 20km), the “emergency evacuation preparation area” (within 30km) and areas outside the 30km region

[2] For all monitoring results, see Google map and raw data from radiation monitoring:
This includes new monitoring results of some of the areas previously monitored by Greenpeace in and around Fukushima City. Also in these areas, radiation levels are still far too high despite decontamination.

 [3] Of 18,180 measurement points inside the 20km in Tamura City, 7068 points are above 0.23 microSievert per hour. In the current situation, people are at risk of being exposed to (significantly) more than the international radiation limit of 1miliSievert (mSv) per year.

*Planting rice in Tamura-city, Fukushima prefecture – Would you want to it? 福島県田村市で事故後初めての田植え, 放射能汚染された水田でできたお米を食べたいと思いますか? http://fukushimaappeal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/planting-rice-in-tamura-city-fukushima.html

No comments:

Post a Comment