Tokyo Correspondence - Something has changed in the information given to the Japanese on the nuclear crisis Fukushima. After two months ago to minimize the dangers to evade questions on the actual severity of the accident after the earthquake and tsunami of March 11 in four of six reactors at the plant, the Government, the Electricity Company of Tokyo (TEPCO), but also researchers previously stakeholders of the powerful nuclear lobby Japanese are beginning to show a little more transparency.
Proof of this evolution, sensitive but timid, the government spokesman Yukio Edano pledged to do "everything possible to ensure transparency of information" during the visit from May 24 to June 2 of a team investigators of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A confession that speaks to the policy followed so far.
Similarly, the documents released May 16 by Tepco reflect the chaos at the station immediately after the earthquake of magnitude 9 that struck the Tohoku region, northeastern Japan. It appears from these report that, contrary to what the company and most experts "official" listed by the major Japanese media, the nuclear incident began before the arrival of the tsunami, evidence that the installation, yet built to standards considered the strictest in the world, has withstood the bad earthquake.
The tsunami has only aggravated the situation. Similarly, ads Tepco that the reactor vessels were intact and the fuel had partially melted, were erroneous and especially so far from a reality that confirms the continuing danger of a situation even more precarious than the region remains subject to violent aftershocks of magnitudes such as 5.8 and 4.6, which hit eastern Japan Friday, May 20 The new data also jeopardizes the commitment of TEPCO, taken April 17 and reiterated on May 17, to regain control of the facility within six to nine months.
But what most worries the Japanese today is information on the levels of contamination. The Ministry of Science maintains measurements in all prefectures. Several researchers, like Professor Kunihiko Takeda, an expert in uranium enrichment, challenge how they are done. It regrets in particular that they are made to 18 m high.
In his view, it is better to take measurements at ground level, to determine the actual exposure of the population. But at this level they should be higher. Another criticism concerns the management of food contamination. Despite the discovery of high levels of radiation in milk or leafy vegetables (spinach, parsley ...), sales are not always permitted.
Otherwise, the government released twice, once in April and May 17, a map of the contaminated areas. For the worst affected areas, which extend up to forty kilometers to the north-west of the plant and whose people, about 80,000 people should be evacuated before the end of May, it has set levels acceptable radiation milliSieverts to 20 (mSv) per year, a decision that prompted the radiation protection expert and professor at the University of Tokyo Toshiso Kosako April 29 to resign from his position as government adviser.
"It is unusual for nuclear workers are exposed to 20 mSv of radiation in one year. From an academic standpoint and human, I can not accept that the children are," he said, in tears, at the press conference after leaving his post. He also criticized the government for the slowness of the authorities to enable the forecasting system for the dissemination of radiation Speedi and disclose the information collected thereafter.
"The government has ignored the law," he added. He has taken piecemeal, failing to quickly resume control of the situation. " The discontent of Mr. Kosako is indicative of a malaise. He himself has always been a strong supporter of nuclear power. He was particularly critical of the seismologist Katsuhiko Ishibashi, one of the few to have denounced the vulnerability of Japanese nuclear power plants to earthquakes.
Inventor in 1997 of the concept of "Genpatsu-Shinsa" - A strong earthquake followed by a nuclear accident - Professor Ishibashi has criticized the blindness of policy makers in their efforts to build power at all costs in extremely dangerous on the seismic plane, ie, in his eyes, throughout Japan.
Toshiso Kosako is not the only one who is changing his address. Even the president of the Nuclear Safety Commission Haruki Madarame, another great champion of the atom positions and very critical of Professor Ishibashi, admitted April 1, alongside experts from 15 pro-nuclear, the danger of the accident plant in Fukushima.
Similarly, 20 May, the agency he heads held a press conference on the "misunderstanding" caused by fixing the limit of 20 mSv per year to clarify that "it is better to limit the Exposure to maximum, while regretting that "some have taken the government information as the signal being subjected to 20 mSv per year was acceptable." Philippe Mesmer 
Proof of this evolution, sensitive but timid, the government spokesman Yukio Edano pledged to do "everything possible to ensure transparency of information" during the visit from May 24 to June 2 of a team investigators of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A confession that speaks to the policy followed so far.
Similarly, the documents released May 16 by Tepco reflect the chaos at the station immediately after the earthquake of magnitude 9 that struck the Tohoku region, northeastern Japan. It appears from these report that, contrary to what the company and most experts "official" listed by the major Japanese media, the nuclear incident began before the arrival of the tsunami, evidence that the installation, yet built to standards considered the strictest in the world, has withstood the bad earthquake.
The tsunami has only aggravated the situation. Similarly, ads Tepco that the reactor vessels were intact and the fuel had partially melted, were erroneous and especially so far from a reality that confirms the continuing danger of a situation even more precarious than the region remains subject to violent aftershocks of magnitudes such as 5.8 and 4.6, which hit eastern Japan Friday, May 20 The new data also jeopardizes the commitment of TEPCO, taken April 17 and reiterated on May 17, to regain control of the facility within six to nine months.
But what most worries the Japanese today is information on the levels of contamination. The Ministry of Science maintains measurements in all prefectures. Several researchers, like Professor Kunihiko Takeda, an expert in uranium enrichment, challenge how they are done. It regrets in particular that they are made to 18 m high.
In his view, it is better to take measurements at ground level, to determine the actual exposure of the population. But at this level they should be higher. Another criticism concerns the management of food contamination. Despite the discovery of high levels of radiation in milk or leafy vegetables (spinach, parsley ...), sales are not always permitted.
Otherwise, the government released twice, once in April and May 17, a map of the contaminated areas. For the worst affected areas, which extend up to forty kilometers to the north-west of the plant and whose people, about 80,000 people should be evacuated before the end of May, it has set levels acceptable radiation milliSieverts to 20 (mSv) per year, a decision that prompted the radiation protection expert and professor at the University of Tokyo Toshiso Kosako April 29 to resign from his position as government adviser.
"It is unusual for nuclear workers are exposed to 20 mSv of radiation in one year. From an academic standpoint and human, I can not accept that the children are," he said, in tears, at the press conference after leaving his post. He also criticized the government for the slowness of the authorities to enable the forecasting system for the dissemination of radiation Speedi and disclose the information collected thereafter.
"The government has ignored the law," he added. He has taken piecemeal, failing to quickly resume control of the situation. " The discontent of Mr. Kosako is indicative of a malaise. He himself has always been a strong supporter of nuclear power. He was particularly critical of the seismologist Katsuhiko Ishibashi, one of the few to have denounced the vulnerability of Japanese nuclear power plants to earthquakes.
Inventor in 1997 of the concept of "Genpatsu-Shinsa" - A strong earthquake followed by a nuclear accident - Professor Ishibashi has criticized the blindness of policy makers in their efforts to build power at all costs in extremely dangerous on the seismic plane, ie, in his eyes, throughout Japan.
Toshiso Kosako is not the only one who is changing his address. Even the president of the Nuclear Safety Commission Haruki Madarame, another great champion of the atom positions and very critical of Professor Ishibashi, admitted April 1, alongside experts from 15 pro-nuclear, the danger of the accident plant in Fukushima.
Similarly, 20 May, the agency he heads held a press conference on the "misunderstanding" caused by fixing the limit of 20 mSv per year to clarify that "it is better to limit the Exposure to maximum, while regretting that "some have taken the government information as the signal being subjected to 20 mSv per year was acceptable." Philippe Mesmer
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