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Institute revises radiation exposure chart without explanation
Thanks you JRae50021 http://youtu.be/kAMT6zTbEvk
Link to article here: http://tinyurl.com/lsccaaj
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_n…
in The Asahi Shimbun.

The National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) association, whose directors include senior officials with electric power companies, said it quoted figures in the new report, which are from literature available both in Japan and abroad, after verifying the data.
A key institute that studies the effects of radiation has revised its chart of doses and related health risks without offering an explanation, triggering confusion and criticism as a result of the disparity among government figures circulating among the public.
The National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) in Chiba posted the chart as a reference that listed exposure from natural radiation and that from radiation leaked by the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and possible health risks on its website after the nuclear accident unfolded in March 2011.
In April 2012, the NIRS deleted a description saying that there were no increased cancer incidences with a radiation dose of 100 millisieverts or less.
Instead, the new chart said it has been found that the risk of dying from cancer gradually rises in accordance with an increase in radiation doses exceeding 100 millisieverts.
An NIRS official said that the revision was meant to avoid misleading the public.
“We changed the expression because some people misunderstood that, ‘It has been scientifically established that incidences of cancer will not increase’ (if the radiation dose is 100 millisieverts or less),” the official told The Asahi Shimbun.
When the NIRS revised the chart, however, it gave no explanation for the change and the history of the revision.

The revised chart came to the attention of the public in recent weeks, raising suspicions about the institute’s motives.
“It is outrageous for the NIRS to make the change (secretly), and we should inform many people of the change,” read one posting on Twitter.
Another tweet declared, “The NIRS has apparently sought to destroy evidence to evade its responsibility” when people develop cancer even with a radiation dose of 100 millisieverts or less.

In late May 2013, the NIRS also revised upward the annual dose of natural radiation in Japan on the chart from 1.5 millisieverts to 2.1 millisieverts.

The NIRS official said the new figure is based on an updated report released in December 2011 by the Nuclear Safety Research Association.
The report, however, does not take into account the impact of the nuclear disaster.
Despite the NIRS’ revision, the education ministry still uses the previous chart in supplementary reading material for elementary, junior and senior high school students. Other government ministries and agencies also use the previous chart on their websites.
In addition, the supplementary material for students includes another figure, 2.2 millisieverts, as the annual dose of natural radiation, a figure drawn from a separate research institute.

Yoshio Hosoi, professor of radiology at Tohoku University, criticized the NIRS and government branches for allowing varied figures to circulate concerning natural radiation exposure at a time when the Japanese public has become critically concerned about their own radiation exposure levels after the Fukushima accident.
“A publicly supported organization should conduct a study to determine the average dose of natural radiation exposure for the Japanese population and present it in a manner easy to understand,” he said.