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Now in Japan the government and Tepco the plants operator have come under heavy criticism
for the reliability of information they have been releasing
Do you think we know the true extent of this crisis
I know we don't because I have visited there and have taken radiation measurements
The concentrations of radionuclides on the ground even 100 kilometers away and more are higher than what they have been saying
The measurements from air filters even as far away as Tokyo show cesium 137 is 1,000
times higher than the peak of weapons fallout in 1963
This is serious and is being ignored by authorities concentrating on external dose rate
They imply everyone is going to be safe
They are comparing it to background radiation and it can't be compared to background radiation
We found radiation levels higher than what were in the Chernobyl exclusion zone
High levels of radiation have reached Tokyo following the accident at Fukushima nuclear plant
People in the capitol have been told not to drink tap water
Workers at Fukushima have been evacuated after black smoke emerged from one of it's reactors
Workers were withdrawn after black smoke began billowing from one of the reactors for fear of contamination
Now it's reactor number 3 the most dangerous of them all because it operates on plutonium
If pluontium gets into the environment it will be very expensive and difficult to clean up
Engineers have managed to connect up all of the reactors to some electricity
Eventually they will be able to put the cooling systems back into action
The cooling systems will then cool the rods and then radioactive contamination will have been avoided
In Tokyo the dangers of radiation are coming from different directions
First it was the fruits and vegetables coming from Fukushima which are becoming contaminated
Authorities are now saying that the levels of radiation in the water are rising
Babies and small children have been banned from drinking tap water due to the danger of radiation
It's ok for adults but at the shops the bottled water is going at a fast rate
People are not risking drinking water from their taps
Levels of radiation in rainwater are five to six times higher than normal
Authorities are asking citizens to stay calm
The day after the earthquake Tepco's Fukushima nuclear plant was in a dire situation
At 5:45 a.m. the government ordered the evacuation of 50,000 citzens
The 10 km evacuation zone is to ensure safety
Please evacuate in a calm matter
The evacuation zone was expanded from 3 kilometers to 10 kilometers
A crucial route from Fukushima to Miharu was route 288
People from Okuma headed over the mountains to Miharu
After March 12 the town hall became the emergency response headquarters
Support was provided to residents affected by the disaster
Town hall director receives a request to take in evacuees
Police called and asked how many people Miharu could take in
We already had our hands full looking after the residents of Miharu
We started preparations to accept 700 evacuees
In reality 5,000 evacuees descended upon the town
Nine evacuation shelters took in 2,000 people but that was the limit
That afternoon a hydrogen explosion hit reactor 1
The crisis was worsening
The 10 kilometer evacuation zone was widened to 20 kilometers
Meanwhile town officials were making the rounds at the shelters around Miharu
A public health nurse was giving advice to evacuees
From there to there nearly 30 self defense force trucks were stretched all the way down and nearly 20 tourist buses
The town's gymnasium was overflowing with evacuees with only the clothes on their backs
The nurse went around to each person to listen to their health problems
A pregnant woman from near the power plant asked about tablets she got hold of
It was the first time the nurse had seen the tablets in their yellow packets
We had never seen these tablets so we asked where did you get these and what were you told
She was told before leaving that it was iodine for the thyroid and to take it before being
exposed to radiation
She was told it was her decision whether or not to take it so she asked us what she should do
We couldn't answer so we went back to do research
The nurse consulted a veteran in the field
I simply didn't have a clue what it was
I was stumped and I needed to do more research
The next day the public health and research department began their research
The tablets were stable iodine an important drug that can protect against exposure to radiation
Stable iodine works in the following way
The radioactive iodine emitted in a nuclear accident gets absorbed by the thyroid
This can lead to cancer
However by taking non radioactive stable iodine tablets beforehand it is possible to block the radioactive iodine
On rare occasions there are side effects
An allergy to iodine can cause a rash or fever
The distribution of the tablets requires authorization by the prefecture government or the presence
of a medical professional
The tricky part is when to take the tablets
When taken 24 hours before radiation exposure the tablets have 93 percent protective effect
As time passes their effectiveness diminishes
Taken 8 hours after exposure they are 40 percent effective and 24 hours after it's down to 7 percent
It's crucial that the tablets be taken at the right time
The nurse became aware of the dangers of invisible radiation for the first time
I went through some literature and I got really scared
I wondered if we were actually safe here and thinking about my own exposure to radiation as well
I started getting really worried
It was then I realized for the first time the gravity of the situation
The next day March 15 the remaining reactor buildings suffered explosions and fires
There was an even larger release of radioactive material
The government ordered residents within a 30 kilometer radius to stay indoors
However Minamisoma decided on a temporary evacuation of residents
Out of a population of 70,000, 60,000 left the city
As of March 11, 2012 Minamisoma had about 40,000 nearly half it's pre-disaster population
The dose of radiation received in the center of town is more than 3 millisieverts per year
That is more than triple internationally accepted exposure limits for residents
What are the effects of such a high dose of radiation
That is not completely known
What is the latest out of Fukushima
Well the world health organization did admit yesterday that there is a 70 percent increase
in thyroid cancer among young girls exposed to radioactive iodine 131
Greenpeace International is showing that even as shocking as that figure is it is downplaying the situation
Already we've seen one third of Fukushima prefecture children with abnormalities in their thyroids
We don't know how many will turn into cancers
In Chernobyl Ukraine and Belarus there was a huge increase in childhood thyroid cancers