nuclear-news

“……”We were preoccupied with other tasks and were late in collecting the dosimeter. The maker told us that data couldn’t be taken from the device, and we overwrote the readings because we needed to use the dosimeter to monitor radiation levels in various parts of the prefecture,” an official of the task force said. “We’ve heard that radiation levels were normal at the time. We didn’t report the loss of the data, and we’re extremely sorry.”

However, the manufacturer denies that data cannot be extracted from the dosimeter.

“Readings are saved in the dosimeter’s memory chip and can be extracted using a special program installed on a computer,” a representative of the manufacturer said….”

Prof Yamashita – Japan Thyroid Association and ex Fukushima Medical Uni Hospital

Prof Thomas – BBC PRopagandist (UK Thyroid Association and Imperial College University London)

Richard Wakeford – Statisticall Liar for UNSCEAR and the BBC (ex BNFL)

A crying child!

Photo by Ritika Mittal

March 09, 2013 (Mainichi Japan)

FUKUSHIMA — The prefectural government deleted radiation data that it gathered at an evacuation shelter near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant shortly after the disaster broke out, it has been learned.

Click here for the original Japanese story

The Fukushima Prefectural Government explained that it wrote over the data without saving it. It failed to report the case to the national government.

The move has made it impossible for the prefectural government to assess how much radiation residents near the nuclear power station were exposed to shortly after the accident — although such assessment is required under national government guidelines.

It was earlier learned that the prefectural government’s analysis of data from radiation monitoring posts was delayed until September last year, and was not reflected in final reports compiled by the government and Diet’s respective nuclear disaster investigation committees.

The latest revelations could influence discussions by a Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) panel on measures to improve methods for monitoring radiation doses in the event of an emergency at an atomic power station.

At around 3 a.m. on March 12, 2011, the day after the massive earthquake and tsunami that triggered the nuclear crisis, the Fukushima Prefectural Government instructed the nuclear plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), to dispatch employees to accompany prefectural officials for emergency monitoring of radiation, according to the prefecture and TEPCO. The order was issued during a meeting of an accident task force in the town of Okuma in accordance with the prefecture’s regional disaster-prevention plan, which was worked out within the framework of the national government’s guidelines.

At least three people clad in radiation suits, including prefectural government officials, headed to Okuma Junior High School, about five kilometers west of the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, on a TEPCO bus carrying a portable dosimeter and dust collectors, among other equipment. They arrived at the school at around 5 a.m., and installed the devices near the school’s gymnasium, where about 100 local residents were taking shelter.

Even though power supply was cut off in the wake of the disaster, the portable dosimeter functioned properly until the afternoon of that day — when a hydrogen explosion occurred at the power plant’s No. 1 reactor building — because the device was equipped with a small power generator.

However, the prefectural government deleted the data in September 2011 after it collected all dosimeters used for radiation monitoring.

A report on emergency radiation monitoring that the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry compiled in July last year, states that monitoring was first conducted at 8:09 a.m. on March 12 in Okuma — shortly after all residents evacuated from the junior high school to other places — using another dosimeter. But the latest findings indicate that the monitoring actually commenced at least three hours earlier.

The prefectural government’s disaster task force explained that it wrote over the data because the manufacturer of the dosimeter said data could not be taken from the device.

“We were preoccupied with other tasks and were late in collecting the dosimeter. The maker told us that data couldn’t be taken from the device, and we overwrote the readings because we needed to use the dosimeter to monitor radiation levels in various parts of the prefecture,” an official of the task force said. “We’ve heard that radiation levels were normal at the time. We didn’t report the loss of the data, and we’re extremely sorry.”

However, the manufacturer denies that data cannot be extracted from the dosimeter.

“Readings are saved in the dosimeter’s memory chip and can be extracted using a special program installed on a computer,” a representative of the manufacturer said.

Hiroaki Yoshii, professor of disaster information studies at Tokyo Keizai University, criticized the prefectural government for its sloppy handling of the crucial data.

“It’s an important task of the Fukushima Prefectural to check how much radiation residents around the nuclear plant were exposed to. The prefectural government lacks a full awareness of the importance of recording the details of the disaster,” he said. “It’s essential to scrutinize why it deleted the data and help other local governments hosting nuclear plants prepare emergency radiation monitoring plans, because a similar accident could occur.”