Greenpeace investigation exposes failure of Fukushima decontamination program
Radioactive contamination in the forests and land of Iitate district in Fukushima prefecture is so widespread and at such a high level that it will be impossible for people to safely return to their homes, a Greenpeace Japan investigation revealed today. The findings follow the Abe Government’s announcement on 12th June 2015 to lift evacuation orders by March 2017 and terminate compensation by 2018, which effectively forces victims back into heavily contaminated areas. [1]
“Prime Minister Abe would like the people of Japan to believe that
they are decontaminating vast areas of Fukushima to levels safe enough
for people to live in. The reality is that this is a policy doomed to
failure. The forests of Iitate are a vast stock of radioactivity that
will remain both a direct hazard and source of potential recontamination
for hundreds of years. It’s impossible to decontaminate,” said Jan
Vande Putte, radiation specialist with Greenpeace Belgium.
“The Japanese government has condemned the people of Iitate to live
in an environment that poses an unacceptable risk to their health.
Stripping nuclear victims of their already inadequate compensation,
which may force them to have to return to unsafe, highly radioactive
areas for financial reasons, amounts to economic coercion. Let’s be
clear: this is a political decision by the Abe Government, not one based
on science, data, or public health,” he said.
Greenpeace conducted a radiation survey and sampling program in
Iitate, including in its forests. One principle finding from the
investigation is that the vast majority of Iitate will never be
decontaminated, with most radioactivity deposited in the vast forested
hills and mountains in the district. The enormous scale of the forests
was revealed by UAV footage from the investigation. And even in the
limited areas that have been decontaminated around people's homes and
land, and along roads, levels of radiation are still at unacceptable
levels. The results show that current decontamination programs are
failing to significantly reduce radiation levels, which remain high and
unsafe for people to live.
Data: 21.07.2015
Fonte: www.greenpeace.com
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