{"id":4431,"date":"2019-06-03T16:25:12","date_gmt":"2019-06-03T07:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cnic.jp\/english\/?p=4431"},"modified":"2019-06-05T14:55:57","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T05:55:57","slug":"government-publications-play-down-radiation-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/?p=4431","title":{"rendered":"Government publications play down radiation risks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Kataoka Ryohei (CNIC)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Reconstruction Agency\u2019s \u2018Truth about Radiation\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Reconstruction Agency compiled a\n30-page, A5-sized booklet titled Hoshasen no Honto<\/em> (Truth about Radiation),\nwhich it published and began distributing in March 2018. As of November 2018,\n22,000 copies had been distributed to relevant government agencies and\nparticipants of functions such as PTA conventions (in Saga and Niigata) in and\noutside of Fukushima Prefecture. It is part of a \u201csafety campaign\u201d aimed at promoting recovery from the Fukushima\nnuclear accident.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It presents a one-sided view, saying\nfor example, \u201cNo proof of health impacts has been found (from the Fukushima\nDaiichi nuclear accident),\u201d \u201cThe occurrences of numerous cases of thyroid\ncancer from radiation are considered not worthy of consideration,\u201d \u201cThe amount\nof radiation in the major cities of Fukushima is decreasing,\u201d and \u201cThe people\nwho have gone back to their hometowns are returning to their normal\nlivelihoods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It contains three particularly big\nmistakes that were pointed out in citizen group negotiations with the\ngovernment held in December 2018. One is the statement that the effects of\nradiation are \u201cnot inherited genetically.\u201d The Ministry of the Environment’s \u201cIntegrated\nbasic information on health effects caused by radiation\u201d (published in 2015)\nstates that \u201cThe International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP)\nestimates the risk of hereditary influence at 0.2% per Gray.\u201d It is a mistake\nto conclude that the effects are not passed along genetically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second mistake is found in the \u201cStandards for radioactive materials in foods\u201d table (shown below) regarding cesium 134 and 137. The figures on Japan\u2019s standards for food in \u201cnormal\u201d times are identical to the figures of the EU, US and Codex Alimentarius Commission for times of emergency. The booklet compares figures from circumstances so different as to be incomparable and states \u201cstandards are set at the world\u2019s strictest level.\u201d The truth is that the standards for drinking water at normal times are 8.7 Bq\/kg in the EU, 4.2 Bq\/kg in the US and not specified under the Codex Alimentarius. The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW), the Consumer Affairs Agency and the Reconstruction Agency have all recognized this error, but it remains uncorrected at present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The third mistake is the statement that \u201cThe increase in cancer risk due to 100-200 milliSieverts (mSv) exposure is about the same as from insufficient vegetable consumption or excessive salt intake.\u201d The National Cancer Center of Japan, which provided the original data on cancer risk from lifestyle choices such as eating too few vegetables, announced in 2008 that it could not find any connection between vegetables and cancer. Making such a comparison in spite of that can only be called intentionally dishonest in that the booklet attempts to make exposure look less risky than it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For whom was this booklet written? The\nReconstruction Agency says, \u201cThis is a booklet for the general public aimed at\ndispelling misunderstandings that lead to groundless prejudices and\ndiscrimination,\u201d and that it is meant for people in areas outside of Fukushima.\nThe Reconstruction Agency has handled this extremely irresponsibly, saying \u201cWe\ndon\u2019t deny the necessity for radiological protection, but dealing with\nradiological protection is not our responsibility, the MHLW handles that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite having these mistakes pointed\nout to them, the Reconstruction Agency refuses to withdraw the booklet, saying\n\u201cSafety is sufficiently assured\u201d and \u201cWe have no intention of writing anything\ndishonest or unscientific.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on recognition that\npreconceptions and misconceptions are arising not from the radiation from which\npeople are suffering, but from insufficient knowledge, and that this lack of\nscientific knowledge is the cause of damage from harmful rumors, Hoshasen no\nHonto<\/em> aims to eliminate \u201charmful rumors,\u201d but it does that by trying to\nprovide mistaken \u201cknowledge.\u201d Another big problem with the booklet is that it\nnever touches on the government\u2019s and TEPCO\u2019s responsibility for the nuclear\naccident or the miserable living environment the accident\u2019s victims have had to\nendure. The booklet ought to be retitled Lies about Radiation<\/em> and\npromptly withdrawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MEXT\u2019s Hoshasen Fukutokuhon<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Supplementary Reader for junior high and high school students<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Ministry of Education, Culture,\nSports, Science and Technology (MEXT) published a 22-page, A4-sized revised\nedition of Hoshasen Fukutokuhon<\/em> (Supplementary Reader on Radiation) in\nOctober 2018. The first edition in 2011 was compiled with a budget of about 200\nmillion yen (about $1.65 million) from MEXT\u2019s Research and Development Bureau\nand distributed to elementary, junior high and high schools, and community\ncenters throughout Japan. The 2014 edition started with a page on the Fukushima\nnuclear accident and the damage it caused, but the revised edition starts out as\nthe original one did from the statement that \u201cRadiation exists all around us\nevery day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Supplementary Reader for primary school students <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Chapter 1 \u201cRadiation, Radioactive\nSubstances and Radioactivity,\u201d states that the health impacts of radiation,\nthat are used, for example, in medical treatments, are related to the amount of\nradiation rather than its presence or absence, and includes a table saying\n\u201crelative risk hard to detect\u201d for exposures of less than 100 mSv. It draws the\nerroneous interpretation that low exposure doses have no health impact.\nHowever, surveys in Hiroshima and Nagasaki support the view that there is no\n\u201clower limit\u201d below which exposure to radiation has no effect. Therefore, the approach\nto radiation should\nstart from clarifying that exposure to radiation always entails a risk of\ncancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  Chapter 2 \u201cThe Nuclear Power Station Accident and the Road to Recovery\u201d says only that the air dose in Fukushima Prefecture has decreased in the seven years since the accident, completely overlooking the fact that radiation levels are still higher in the contaminated regions, including neighboring prefectures, than they were before the accident and that forested areas exist that have not been decontaminated as do hot spots with high levels of radiation. It also fails to mention that the residents who have returned and are living there will face exposure over a long period into the future. It introduces only forward-looking initiatives toward reconstruction and revitalization of the region, overlooking the reality that even after the evacuation orders have been lifted, almost no children or young people have returned and the region has a high percentage of elderly residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \nEven if it stresses that radiation levels are safe and claims that the\nreason children from Fukushima are being bullied at schools is because of\n\u201crumors arising from ungrounded beliefs,\u201d it cannot dispel those rumors this\nway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strategy to strengthen rumor elimination and risk communication<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoshasen no Honto<\/em> and Hoshasen Fukutokuhon<\/em> are\npart of the Reconstruction Agency\u2019s \u201cStrategy to strengthen rumor elimination\nand risk communication.\u201dThis is a strategy of trying to force\ncomplete closure of the Fukushima nuclear accident in time for the Tokyo\nOlympics in 2020. It involves intensified transmission of information to let\npeople \u201cknow\u201d there is no harm being caused by the accident anymore, get them\nto \u201ceat\u201d produce from Fukushima and encourage them to \u201cvisit\u201d Fukushima on\nschool excursions and sightseeing tours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The targets for this \u201cinformation\u201d are\n(1) young students and people such as teachers involved in their education, (2)\nexpectant mothers and parents\/guardians of infants and young students and (3)\ncitizens in general. The revised edition of Hosha Fukutokuhon<\/em> is central\nto the specific measures for this strategy. \u201cRadiation safety education\u201d is also\nbeing conducted as part of school staff training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Refusing to face radiation risks\nsquarely and pushing \u201crisk\ncommunication\u201d that denies health impacts is nothing but spreading propaganda.\nIt will fail to resolve the issues, and will probably not lead to the recovery\nof Fukushima either. Both publications strongly deserve to be withdrawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kataoka Ryohei (CNIC) The Reconstruction Agency\u2019s \u2018Truth about Radiation\u2019 The Reconstruction Agency compiled a 30-page, A5-sized booklet titled Hoshasen no Honto (Truth about Radiation), which it published and began distributing in March 2018....<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-radiation-education-pr"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4431"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4476,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4431\/revisions\/4476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cnic.jp\/english\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}