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Tero Tapio Varjoranta, deputy chief of the IAEA team, told a news conference in Tokyo that many of the Chernobyl cancer cases came from drinking milk that contained radioactive cesium, but that Japan's food controls in this area were in "very good order."The IAEA has "done a lot of work to learn the lessons from Chernobyl," he said.

The report also urged Japanese authorities to help the public focus on dose levels — the amount of radiation an individual is exposed to — rather than the contamination of certain areas or objects that could be far from the closest humans."Contamination means radioactivity somewhere. Dosage is how it affects me," Varjoranta explained.The team found Japan's radiation monitoring system was "very good, very extensive," said leader Juan Carlos Lentijo, adding that it would detect any dangerous spike in radiation.The Fukushima accident forced about 100,000 people living around the plant to be evacuated, and many now live in temporary homes or shelters, uncertain of when they will be able to return to their homes. Some Japanese officials say it could be years.

Eisuke Matsui, a lung cancer specialist who is a former associate professor at Gifu University's School of Medicine, argued in his papers submitted to the conference that the victims of Chernobyl in the neighboring present-day country of Belarus have suffered from a raft of other problems, including congenital malformations, type-1 diabetes and cataracts. Matsui cited a lengthy and detailed report of research by the Russian scientists Alexey V. Yablokov, Vassily B. Nesterenko and Alexey V. Nesterenko that was published in 2007, and republished in English in 2009 by the New York Academy of Sciences under the title "Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment." Matsui stressed that, based on such evidence, the Japanese government should approve group evacuations of children — at the expense of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. — from certain parts of Fukushima Prefecture. He cited some areas of the city of Koriyama, 50 to 60 km from the stricken nuclear plant, where soil contamination by radioactive cesium-137 has reached 5.13 Curies per sq. km. That is the same as in areas of Ukraine where residents were given rights to evacuate, Matsui said. In fact in June, the parents of 14 schoolchildren in Koriyama filed a request for a temporary injunction with the Fukushima District Court, asking it to order the city to send their children to schools in safer areas.

In the ongoing civil suit, those parents claim that the children's external radiation exposure has already exceeded 1 millisievert according to official data — the upper yearly limit from all sources recommended by the ICRP for members of the public under normal conditions. Following a nuclear incident, however, the ICRP recommends local authorities to set the yearly radiation exposure limit for residents in contaminated areas at between 1 and 20 millisieverts, with the long-term goal of reducing the limit to 1 millisievert per year. Meanwhile, Hisako Sakiyama, former head researcher at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, delved into the non-cancer risks of exposure to radiation. In her presentation, she referred to a report compiled in April by the German Affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Titled "Health Effects of Chernobyl: 25 years after the reactor catastrophe," this documents an alarmingly high incidence of genetic and teratogenic (fetal malformation) damage observed in many European countries since Chernobyl.

Sakiyama also pointed out that the German report showed that the incidence of thyroid cancer due to radiation exposure was not limited to children. For instance, she cited IPPNW survey findings from the Gomel district in Belarus, a highly-contaminated area, when researchers compared the incidence of thyroid cancer in the 13 years before the Chernobyl explosion and the 13 years after. These findings show that the figures for the latter period were 58 times higher for residents aged 0-18, 5.3 times higher for those aged 19-34, 6 times higher for those aged 35-49, and 5 times higher for those aged 50-64. "In Japan, the government has a policy of not giving out emergency iodine pills to those aged 45 and older (because it considers that the risk of them getting cancer is very low),"' Sakiyama said. "But the (IPPNW) data show that, while less sensitive compared to children, adults' risks go up in correspondence with their exposure to radioactivity."

Further post-Chernobyl data was presented to the conference by Sebastian Pflugbeil, a physicist who is president of the German Society for Radiation Protection. Reporting the results of his independent research into child cancers following the Chernobyl disaster, he said that "in West Germany ... with an exposure of 1 millisievert per year, hundreds of thousands of children were affected." He noted, though, that any official admissions regarding health damage caused by the 1986 disaster in the then Soviet Union came very slowly and insufficiently in Europe. Indeed, he said the authorities denied there were health risks for years afterward. In response, an audience member who said he was a science teacher at a junior high school in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, asked Pflugbeil to exactly identify the level of exposure beyond which residents should be evacuated. While acknowledging that was a very difficult question, the German specialist noted later, however, that he would think pregnant women should probably leave Fukushima — adding, "I have seen many cases over the years, but I come from Germany and it's not easy to judge (about the situation in Japan)."

At a round table discussion later in the day, as well as discussing specific issues many participants made the point that science belongs to the people, not just experts — the very point that underpinned the entire event. As Wataru Iwata, director of the Fukushima-based citizens' group CRMS, one of the forum's organizers (which also conducts independent testing of food from in and around Fukushima Prefecture) put it: "Science is a methodology and not an end itself." In the end, though the citizens' forum — which ran from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. — arrived at no clear-cut conclusions, organizers said that that in itself was a good outcome. And another conference involving citizens and scientists is now being planned for March 2012.

4. Winscale Fire, Great Britain Oct. 10, 1957 INES Rating: 5 (accident with wider consequences) The uranium core of Britain’s first nuclear facility had been on fire for two days before maintenance workers noticed the rising temperatures. By that time, a radioactive cloud had already spread across the UK and Europe. Plant operators delayed further efforts in fighting the fire, fearing that pouring water on it would cause an explosion. Instead, they tried cooling fan and carbon dioxide. Finally, they applied water and on Oct. 12, the fire was out. British officials, worried about the political ramifications of this incident, suppressed information. One report, however, says that in the long run, as many as 240 may have died from accident related cancers. 5.

Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, US March 28, 1979 INES Rating: 5 (accident with wider consequences) Failure of a pressure valve resulted in an overheating of the plant’s core and the release of 13 million curies of radioactive gases. A full meltdown was avoided when the plant’s designers and operators were able to stabilize the situation before contaminated water reached the fuel rods. A full investigation by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission suggests that there were no deaths or injuries resulting from the incident.

6. Golania, Brazil Sept, 1987 INES Rating: 5 (accident with wider consequences) Scavengers at an abandoned radiotherapy institute found a billiard ball sized capsule of radioactive cesium chloride, opened it and then sold it to a junkyard dealer. The deadly material was not identified for more than two year, during which time it had been handled by hundreds, including some who used the glittery blue material for face paint. Of the 130,000 tested, 250 were discovered to be contaminated and 20 required treatment for radiation sickness. Four died, including the two who originally found the capsule, the wife of the junkyard owner and a small girl who used the powder as face paint. 7. Lucens, Switzerland January 1, 1969 INES Rating: 5 (accident with wider consequences) When the coolant on a test reactor facility in a cave in Switzerland failed during startup, the system suffered a partial core meltdown and contaminated the cavern with radioactivity. The facility was sealed and later decontaminated. No known deaths or injuries.

8. Chalk River, Canada INES Rating: 5 (accident with wider consequences) May 24, 1958 Inadequate cooling lead to a fuel rod fire, contaminating the plant and surrounding labs. 9. Tokaimura,Japan Sept. 30, 1999 INES Rating: 4 (accident with local consequences) The nuclear plant near Tokai had not been used for three years when a group of unqualified workers attempted to put more highly enriched uranium in a precipitation tank than was permitted. A critical reaction occurred and two of the workers eventually died of radiation exposure. Fifty six plant workers and 21 others also received high doses of radiation. Residents within a thousand feet of the plant were evacuated.

10. National Reactor Testing Station, Idaho Falls, Idaho January 3, 1961 INES Rating: 4 (accident with local consequences) Improper withdrawal of a control rod led to a steam explosion and partial meltdown at this Army facility. Three operators were killed in what is the only known US nuclear facility accident with casualties. In addition to these, there have been a number of deadly medical radiotherapy accidents, many of which killed more people than the more commonly feared nuclear plant accidents: 17 fatalities – Instituto Oncologico Nacional of Panama, August 2000 -March 2001. patients receiving treatment for prostate cancer and cancer of the cervix receive lethal doses of radiation.[7][8] 13 fatalities – Radiotherapy accident in Costa Rica, 1996. 114 patients received an overdose of radiation from a Cobalt-60 source that was being used for radiotherapy.[9]

11 fatalities – Radiotherapy accident in Zaragoza, Spain, December 1990. Cancer patients receiving radiotherapy; 27 patients were injured.[10] 10 fatalities – Columbus radiotherapy accident, 1974–1976, 88 injuries from Cobalt-60 source. 7 fatalities – Houston radiotherapy accident, 1980.Alamos National Laboratory.[18] 1 fatality – Malfunction INES level 4 at RA2 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, operator Osvaldo Rogulich dies days later.

Gunma and Tochigi prefectures have a combined 3,800 square kilometers with an annual exposure of 1 millisievert or more. Among Tokyo's 23 wards, Katsushika Ward had the highest radiation level of 0.33 microsievert per hour, according to a science ministry map showing radioactive contamination for 12 prefectures. The ward government has been measuring radiation levels in seven locations once a week since late May. It plans to take measurements at about 500 public facilities, such as schools and parks, in response to residents' demands for detailed surveys.

The Gunma prefectural government has measured radiation levels in 149 locations since September and has identified six northern mountainous municipalities with an annual exposure of 1 millisievert or more. Earlier this month, the prefectural government asked 35 municipalities to decide whether radioactive materials will be removed. High radiation levels were detected in Minakami, Gunma Prefecture, known as a hot spring resort. Mayor Yoshimasa Kishi said the town could be mistaken as a risky place if it decides to have radioactive materials removed. The science ministry's map showed that 0.2 to 0.5 microsievert was detected in some locations in Niigata Prefecture. Niigata Governor Hirohiko Izumida said the figures were likely mistaken, noting that these locations have high natural radiation levels because of granite containing radioactive materials.

The prefectural government plans to conduct its own surveys of airborne radiation levels and soil contamination. Many municipalities are calling for financial support for removing radioactive materials. In Kashiwa and five other cities in northern Chiba Prefecture, radioactive materials need to be removed over an estimated 180 square kilometers of mainly residential areas. The Kashiwa city government is providing up to 200,000 yen ($2,620) to kindergartens and nursery schools for removal work. But some facilities have asked children's parents to help pay the costs because they cannot be covered by the municipal assistance.

Today, about 50 parents and the city officials visited the local JA, where the JA officials explained the testing procedures.

JA will test both brown rice and polished rice before shipping, for radioactive materials.

Also, other municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture will switch to the new crop of rice starting next month. They are currently deciding on whose rice to use. Pressure is of course on to use the rice harvested in Fukushima, which even some rice farmers wouldn't feed their family members with (see my post here, bottom third).

For consumers outside Fukushima Prefecture, there is no way of telling whether a bag of new rice contains Fukushima rice, if it is a bag of "blended" rice. There is no requirement to list the places of origin if the rice from different locations are blended. All the label will say is "made in Japan".Convenience store "bento" and "onigiri" is very likely to feature rice from Fukushima. Some stores at least prominently declare that they use Fukushima rice.

While consumers can still avoid, if they want to, Fukushima rice by avoiding "blended" rice and avoiding buying bento at convenience stores, school children cannot.A nation is utterly broken when the leaders think nothing of using children as propaganda tools, and excoriate those citizens who dare raise their voices. It's not just Fukushima Prefecture either.No end in sight of Japanese nuclear horror.