Greenpeace | Radioactivity on the Move 2020
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Namie and Okuma exclusion zone survey results The global standard for radiation exposure is set by the International Commission for Radiation Protection (ICRP). The maximum recommended exposure for the general public was one milliSievert per year (mSv/y), and this was applied by the Japanese government until 2012. However, as result of the contamination of Fukushima prefecture by the nuclear disaster, these levels were exceeded. As part of its strategy to lift evacuation orders, the Japanese government in April 2012 increased the maximum recommended annual exposure to twenty (20) mSv/y.1 Before the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the average radiation levels in Fukushima prefecture were 0.04 μSv/h. In March 2012, the Japanese government set a long-term decontamination target of 0.23 μSv/h, which they calculate (if attained) would lead to a maximum annual exposure of 1 mSv. However, as this survey report and earlier Greenpeace Japan surveys have shown, in many areas of Fukushima, in particular in Iitate, Namie, and Okuma, the levels far exceed 0.23 μSv/h. The government, nine years after the start of the disaster and after 2.8 trillion yen assigned to its decontamination program, has still failed to provide any timeframe for when it thinks it will reach the 0.23 μSv/h target. As our 2018 report detailed, in some cases it will be well into the 22nd century and beyond when levels in some areas will reach 0.23 μSv/h, which remains nearly six (6) times higher than background levels pre-March 2011.
Namie exclusion zone House of Ms. Kanno The home of Ms. Kanno is located in Shimo-Tsushima in the district of Namie, 30 km west-northwest of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. It was subjected to significant radiation contamination resulting from the March 2011 nuclear accident. The government selected Ms. Kanno’s house for demonstrating its decontamination techniques and her home was subjected to considerable effort during December 2011 and February 2012. Greenpeace conducted its first radiation survey at the home of Ms. Kanno in September 2017, with a follow up survey in October 2018. In October 2019, we returned to Ms. Kanno’s home with a focus on the immediate area around the house, as well as on the family’s farmland and forest. Overall, the weighted average recorded in October 2019 was 0.9 μSv/h for the seven zones measured, compared with 1.3 μSv/h for the four zones measured in 2018 (Table 1). Maximum levels in October 2019 were 2.2 μSv/h compared with 5.9 μSv/h in 2018, and 5.8 μSv/h in 2017. 10
