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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
Robert Alvarez, a former senior policy adviser at the U.S. Department of Energy said in a Democracy Now! interview on June 10, “The nuclear industry, particularly in the United States, and elsewhere—Russia and Japan—has had a very long history of withholding information and misleading the public about the hazards of their activities.” Being no exception to Alvarez's generalization, the Japanese government, since the mutiple meltdowns and explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in mid-March, has withheld or controlled information about health risks of radiation, expected dispersion of radioactive materials, and their actual contamination measurements in areas surrounding Fukushima Daiichi. Instead of providing candid information to the public, the government started campaigns in the opposite direction—to lull the public into worrying less about radiation and its health risks.
1 The Japanese government has the advanced SPEEDI (Realtime radiation data collected via the System for Prediction of Environment Emergency Dose Information) simulation system, which allows them to calculate and estimate radioactive dispersion and radiation exposure in a matter of minutes. The first disclosure of any SPEEDI data by the government was on March 23, twelve days after the quake/tsunami, and the government has been criticized for only disclosing parts of the thousands of calculation results belately, and not using the system for evacuating people quickly enough. The SPEEDI data disclosed is available in these two links: [MEXT] [NSC].
The Japanese government also has failed to have their weather authorities inform the public about predicted wind directions. Weather forecasts in the Japanese media predict vigorously how pollen fly and when cherry blossoms bloom across the nation, but never talk about radiation from Fukushima Daiichi. Many of those who have access to the Internet rely on radiation dispersion predictions provided by weather authorities in other countries, such as Germany, the UK, and Austria.
2 The US Department of Energy (DoE) and Japan's MEXT conducted aerial measuring of ground level dose rate and cesium disposition within a 100km radius of Fukushima Daiichi. Although the results have been disclosed both on the DoE and MEXT websites, they were hardly explained in the government's press conferences and media. This is perhaps because these results would reveal “hot spots,” or highly contaminated areas outside the designated evacuation areas, to the eyes of the general public. The cesium 134 and 137 disposition maps on both websites used blue and light blue to colour the areas with contamination levels of more or less than 300,000 Bq/m2, making “hot spots” widely dispersed over densely populated areas such as the cities of Date, Fukushima, and Koriyama indistinguishable. Links: [MEXT] [DoE]
3 Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, “Ninshin chû no kata, chiisana okosan o motsu okasan no hôshasen e no goshinpai ni okotae shimasu” (We will respond to the questions about radiation of pregnant women and mothers with small children).“
4 MEXT is a short for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
5 MEXT, “Hôshanô o tadashiku rikai suru tame ni” (To understand radiation correctly), April 20, 2011.
6 The exposure limit for workers who handle radiation in Japan is the total of 100 mSv over five years, not exceeding 50 mSv in any one year, so the averaged per year allowable dose is 20 mSv. From the website of Department of Radiation Protection, Japan Atomic Energy Agency.
7 Shimabashi Nobuyuki, who worked at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant, died in 1991 from leukemia. He had a total exposure of 50.65 mSv over 8 years and 10 months, from March 1981 to December 1989. His illness was recognized as work-related. See No.5 in the list of confirmed cases of workers'radiation illnesses recognized as work-related.
8 Francis Boyle, “Genshiryoku sangyô ‘jindô no tsumi,‘” Ehime Shimbun, March 23, 2011.
9 See Mariko Sanchanta and Mitsuru Obe, “Moms Turn Activists in Japanese Crisis,” Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2011.
10 Twelve associate professors at Fukushima University submitted a letter of request to Fukushima Governor Sato Yuhei on June 6, asking for clarification of the process in choosing Yamashita Shun-ichi as a leader of long-term epidemiological study of Fukushima residents and for re-selection of experts who take internal radiation into account and consider risks of low dose radiation from a preventative standpoint.
11 Nihonmatsu Mayor Miho Keiichi expressed regret over having organized a seminar by Yamashita Shun-ichi, after Yamashita told citizens just to listen to the government without providing scientific grounds for evacuation guidelines.
12 “‘Fukushima genpatsu no risuku o keishi shiteiru’ – ‘Anzen setsu’ Yamashita kyôju nik ainin yôkyû shomei,” J-CAST News, June 14, 2011.
13 Also notable is graphic novelist Nishioka Yuka's manga “Hôshanô te nani? (What Is Radiation?),” May 2011.
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