“There may be a risk of developing cancer, but the risk is small. As long as we take care in selecting food, I think it’s OK,” said student Wataru Sugeno.
Asked to write in a free description section what Fukushima will be like in 30 years, the children’s reactions were mixed. A second-year middle-school girl wrote, ”It will be safe just like the days before the nuclear accident,” while a second-year middle-school boy said Fukushima will be powered mainly by renewable energy. Those who aired pessimistic views said Fukushima would remain deserted or that radiation fears will persist.
A year after the power plant’s triple meltdown, conflicting official information leaves families confused and fearful for their future
ACRO continues to face a large demand for urine testing from Japan at the request of local NGOs or individuals and to provide free analysis. This time, the urines come from prefectures that further from the Fukushima NPP. Results show that urines are still contaminated almost one year after 3/11 and are contaminated in places located as far as Oshu (Iwate Pref.) at about 220 km from the NPP. In Miyagi Pref. that is closer, urines are also contaminated. It is particularly the case in Marumori. Sample n°11 comes from the same girl from Ichinoseki as the last time. We notice a significant decrease of the contamination. Parents were eating vegetables from the Grandparents’ garden without expecting that they could be contaminated. The urine test provided by ACRO allowed them to change their food habits and protect themselves.
Ayaka and her family were forced to flee when their home was destroyed in the earthquake and tsunami which devastated parts of Japan in early 2011, killing about 16,000 people.
They live outside the 20km (12 mile) exclusion zone surrounding the failed nuclear plant at Fukushima Daiichi, but they still have to live with increased radiation levels which impact their lives.
Ayaka is one of several seven to 10-year-old survivors who talk about how their lives have changed forever in BBC Two’s Japan - Children of the Tsunami on Thursday 1 March 2012 at 2000GMT - or watch later online (UK only) at the above link.
‘I was stunned that some parents did not even know the city’s radiation testing of school lunches and decontamination at school,’ she said. ‘They just think they are problems only in Fukushima.’
A survey shows 1,580 children lost one or both parents in the three prefectures in the disasters as at the end of last year — 572 in Iwate, 846 in Miyagi and 162 in Fukushima.
SOMA, Fukushima — City authorities here will prioritize decontamination of areas where children’s external radiation exposure is estimated to be 2 millisieverts or more per year, it has been learned.
