nuclear-news

Some data has been released about the external radiation monitoring program going on in Fukushima. These programs involved issuing glass badges to school children then periodically handing them in for testing. This does not record the children’s internal radiation doses from what they breathe in, eat or drink. Those levels are in addition to what is recorded by the badges.

What the new round of testing found is that 76% of school children in Nihonmatsu are above the government goal of 1 mSv/year with just their external radiation exposure. The government goal is based on the ICRP guidelines but many consider the ICRP levels to be too high. Some actually saw their levels go up compared to their 2011 levels. One researcher assumed this is due to children being allowed outside more now than before.

As the disaster evolves people are still struggling to understand how and where the radiation contamination will show up to continue to try to mitigate people’s risk. Nihonmatsu City is about 45km from Fukushima Daiichi.

Sources: 
Fukushima Diary

Mainichi