Japanese Gov't emergency headquarters refused to conduct additional thyroid testing on children

[kristopher]

Gov't emergency headquarters refused to conduct additional thyroid testing on children

...Between March 26 and March 30 last year, the emergency headquarters used simple radiation sensors to test thyroid radiation exposure among 1,080 children between the ages of 0 and 15. The children were living in areas outside the 30-kilometer radius from the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant where high levels of radiation exposure were likely.

None of the children registered radiation exposure levels exceeding 0.2 microsieverts per hour, the figure set by the NSC as one above which children would be required to undergo a more thorough examination. However, one child from the Fukushima Prefecture city of Iwaki registered 0.1 microsieverts per hour, whose accumulated thyroid exposure to radiation was calculated to be around or above 30 millisieverts.

On March 30, after the NSC was informed of the results from the government's nuclear emergency headquarters, NSC asked that additional tests be conducted on the child with a thyroid monitor, which is capable of taking more precise measurements.

...On April 1, 2011, however, the government's emergency headquarters decided not to conduct further tests, citing "the difficulty of transporting a 1-ton thyroid monitor," "requiring the child to travel long distances for tests," and "risk of spreading extreme panic and making the child, the child's family and their local community targets of unwarranted discrimination" as reasons...

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120221p2a00m0na018000c.html

[Art_from_Ark]

1. Well, now you know one reason why Naoto Kan is no longer the prime minister

His handling of the crisis was roundly criticized in the Japanese media.

[kristopher]

2. You mean the criticism that started after he called for eliminating nuclear power?

[Art_from_Ark]

4. No, I mean his ineptness in handling the nuclear crisis

Although I cannot vote in Japanese elections, I supported Naoto Kan the first time he tried to become head of his party, back in 2003 or so.

But he was obviously in over his head, and even the liberal-leaning Asahi Shimbun newspaper criticized his handling of the crisis.

On edit: To my knowledge, he didn't even appear on TV to explain his Cabinet's position vis-a-vis the crisis. He basically left everything to his press secretary. That didn't instill much confidence in the Japanese citizenry.

[kristopher]

5. He was being sandbagged by the right wingers just like they're doing to Obama

And again, the criticism didn't begin until after he made clear he wanted to move away from nuclear power.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. No, the criticism started because he didn't seem to have a clue what to do

Even the Asahi Shimbum criticized his handling of the crisis.
That was akin to Lyndon Johnson "losing Cronkite".

[kristopher]

7. Nope.

In that kind of crisis there is no shortage of things to criticize no matter what any leader does. The problems were in place and unalterable before Kan took office. The criticism against Kan was rooted in the rally against him by the "nuclear village" (nuclear industry, the utilities and the pronuclear bureaucracy) once he made his antinuclear position clear.

[Art_from_Ark]

10. No

Read this article and get back with me.
Kan was his own worst enemy during the crisis. If it had been a RW conspiracy to get him out of power, akin to what happened to Murayama back in 1996, then the LDP would be back in power today.

http://www.asahi.com/politics/update/0709/TKY201107090613.html

[kristopher]

11. That doesn't follow at all

In fact it absurd. You are claiming that the only time right wing obstructionism is practiced it results in a change of government? They (the LDP and the nuclear village) managed to oust a good Prime Minister that was intent on changing a foundational policy of the hard right wing (they want nuclear weapons), the mainstream LDP rightists, the pronuclear bureaucrats at METI etc, the utilities, and the conglomerates like Hitachi and Mitsubishi.

You're view really doesn't align with the power dynamics and the real world problems of crisis management.

[Art_from_Ark]

15. Look, even the former head of the Democratic Party of Japan, Ichiro Ozawa,

Last edited Wed Feb 22, 2012, 02:19 AM - Edit history (4)

was criticizing Kan's handling of the crisis, saying that "Kan's leadership (was) nowhere to be seen," and that Kan's "irresponsible response might invite further calamity"

And even if those comments could be attributed to the bad blood that started to exist between Kan and Ozawa,
the leader of the Upper House of the Diet/Parliament, Takeo Nishioka, from Kan's own party, was asking Kan to resign

http://www.asahi.com/politics/update/0407/TKY201104070424.html?ref=reca

http://www.asahi.com/politics/update/0520/TKY201105200223.html

Kan was noticeably absent at press conferences and even Cabinet meetings, relying too heavily on Yukio Edano to act as his spokesman.

And Kan's Advisor to Fukushima Prefecture on Health-risk Management for Nuclear Radiation, Shunichi Yamashita, was practically as inept as bu$h's FEMA Director was during Katrina.

[kristopher]

16. Give it a break.

You remind me of those that criticized Carter in 1979.

[Art_from_Ark]

17. Were you in Japan during March/April/May last year?

I was. I was 100 miles south of Fukushima, watching the TV news, reading the papers, checking the radiation readings every day. The events that were unfolding had a very direct impact on my life. One thing that was particularly noteworthy during that time was Kan's absence. Often when there was some announcement coming from the Prime Minister's office, it was given by Yukio Edano. Edano even attended an emergency Cabinet meeting instead of Kan. For a while, people were joking that Edano was the real prime minister. Admittedly, the situation was catastrophic, but at the same time, the people wanted a take-charge, front-and-center kind of leadership, and Kan wasn't providing it. In Japan, people don't expect too much from their prime ministers during normal times, but in times of crisis they do. That's why Prime Minister Mori was given the boot for his failure to respond properly to the Ehime Maru sinking. That's why Kan was given the boot in the wake of the Fukushima crisis.

[bluecoat_fan]

3. If you don't collect data, then you can say "there is no data showing thyroid problems".(nt)

[kristopher]

8. Exactly.

[madokie]

9. Thats been the pattern since day one on this nuclear low road we're on

Never ever trust a man/woman who supports nuclear energy for making our electricity.

[kristopher]

12. Note on "Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters "

Since there are two "Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters" it helps to know which is being referred to in this article .

One is set up in the Prime Minister's residence and the other is set up at a predesignated location near the site of the emergency being responded to - in this case I believe that was at Fukushima Plant #2 - and is termed the "Off-Site Center"

Operational plans for nuclear accident response calls for matters of "residence safety, medical treatment to exposed persons, and support for evacuated residents" to be handled by the "Off-Site Center".

The article isn't explicit but it seems probable the nexus of decision-making was the Off-Site Center, which is controlled and operated by TEPCO, METI and MEXT.

[FBaggins]

13. Lousy title.

Unlike other dose limits that were raised in response to Fukushima, the threshold for identifying a candidate for more detailed screening for thyroid dose was cut in half. Over 1,000 kids in some of the most-impacted areas were screened and nobody came close to even that lowered limit. A single child tested at .07 μSv/hr (rounded here to .1) and, per the standard procedure, required no additional testing.

Yet somehow the author translates that into the govt "refusing" aditional testing on "children" (plural)?

The real lead buried in the story is much better news:

Meanwhile, Yoshihisa Matsumoto, an associate professor of radiobiology at Tokyo Institute of Technology says: "Based on data we have obtained, I don't think we'll see an increase in thyroid cancer in Fukushima. But if more precise data had been collected at the time, it could have been used to put residents' minds more at ease."

This would be shockingly good news if it pans out.

[DCKit]

14. The original title "Great Joy, Happy, Happy Nuclear Meltdown" didn't translate....

to the English speaking audience.