BBC Wrong on Fukushima, Again

via Goddard’s Journal / Published March 11, 2016: Response to: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35… Expanded upon here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35… Dose-rate conversion: http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/E… ” 2.8 microsievert/hour = 24.5448 millisievert/year ” Study cited @ 1:40 re regional natural background dose rate of 0.05 uSv/y Malins et al (2016). Evaluation of ambient dose equivalent rates influenced by vertical and horizontal distribution of radioactive cesium in soil in Fukushima Prefecture. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 151 (2016) 38e49 http://pubmed.gov/26408835 … Continue reading

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View from Inside Fukushima Prefecture: Vastly Different from Govt. Pronouncements

by Robert Hunziker / ukprogressive.co.uk / July 8, 2015 / Because of Japan’s unconscionable open-ended new secrecy law, it is very likely journalism in the nation has turned tail, scared of its own shadow. Nevertheless, glimmers of what has happened, of what is happening, do surface when brave people come forward. On May 22nd 2015 Hiromichi Ugaya, a photojournalist who is well-informed, insightful, and engaging, was interviewed about what he … Continue reading

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How a Single Tweet Could Land a Japanese Nuclear Activist in Jail

from Vice News / May 12, 2014 / In 2012, more than 15,000 people living near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant filed a criminal complaint at the Fukushima prosecutors’ office. They alleged that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the Japanese central government were criminally negligent for the March 2011 Fukushima meltdown and the way in which the resulting cleanup was handled. The Fukushima police, however, declined to investigate. … Continue reading

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Squelching Efforts to Measure Fukushima Meltdown

By David McNeil / NY Times / In the chaotic, fearful weeks after the Fukushima nuclear crisis began, in March 2011, researchers struggled to measure the radioactive fallout unleashed on the public. Michio Aoyama’s initial findings were more startling than most. As a senior scientist at the Japanese government’s Meteorological Research Institute, he said levels of radioactive cesium 137 in the surface water of the Pacific Ocean could be 10,000 … Continue reading

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NHK falls prey to Streisand Effect

by Lucas W. Hixson / via Enformabale.com / February 3, 2014 / It is well known that sometimes, we humans experience unintended consequences for conscious decisions we have made.  Some of these unintended consequences are so frequently encountered that they are named. The Streisand Effect describes a situation where an attempt to suppress, censor, or remove information brings more attention to it.  It is named after Barbra Streisand, who unsuccessfully … Continue reading

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Worst-case scenario thinking and Fukushima radiation

via Deep Sea News / January 23, 2014 / Why do some people hold fast to apocalyptic ideas, like Fukushima radiation, even when the best available evidence suggests that the world is not about to end? Confirmation bias is the term psychologists use to describe the behavior of testing an idea by searching for evidence that supports it. This tendency to confirm pre-existing beliefs creates and maintains false perceptions of … Continue reading

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Japan Reacts to Fukushima Crisis By Banning Journalism

via Washington’s Blog / November 27, 2013 / 2 weeks after the Fukushima accident, we reported that the government responded to the nuclear accident by trying to raise acceptable radiation levels and pretending that radiation is good for us. We noted earlier this month: Japan will likely pass a new anti-whistleblowing law in an attempt to silence criticism of Tepco and the government: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government is … Continue reading

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