Radiation Survey of Mrs. Kanno's House in Shimo-Tsushima

Evacuee and Fukushima survivor, Mrs. Kanno at her house in Shimo-Tsushima, Japan, watches Greenpeace radiation specialists Mai Suzuki and Laurence Bergot measuring for contamination around her house. Located in the exclusion zone of Namie, Fukushima prefecture, this area is closed for people to return to. However, the Japanese government plans to open a small area of Tsushima as early as 2023. The levels of radiation measured by Greenpeace in this highly contaminated area mean that it will be many decades and beyond the end of the century before radiation levels will even approach government targets.

Unique identifier: GP0STRLPC

Type: Image

Shoot date: 26/09/2017

Locations: East Asia, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Namie, Tsushima

Credit line: © Christian Åslund / Greenpeace

Ranking: ★★★★★★ (B)

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Radiation Survey in Fukushima Prefecture

A comprehensive survey by Greenpeace Japan in the towns of Iitate and Namie in Fukushima prefecture, including the exclusion zone, revealed radiation levels up to 100 times higher than the international limit for public exposure. The high radiation levels in these areas pose a significant risk to returning evacuees until at least the 2050’s and well into next century. The findings come just two weeks ahead of a critical decision at at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) review on Japan’s human rights record and commitments to evacuees from the nuclear disaster.

Greenpeace conducted the investigations in September and October 2017 measuring tens of thousands of data points around homes, forests, roads and farmland in the open areas of Namie and Iitate, as well as inside the closed Namie exclusion zone. The government plans to open up small areas of the exclusion zone, including Obori and Tsushima, for human habitation in 2023. The survey shows the decontamination program to be ineffective, combined with a region that is 70-80% mountainous forest which cannot be decontaminated.

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