Scandal: Japan Forces Top Official To Retract Prime Minister’s Revelation Fukushima Permanently Uninhabitable

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Doublespeak, newspeak and more. A top government official forced to retract his report that the Prime minister said Fukushima will be permanently uninhabitable. Milk from Fukushima allowed back on store shelves with record levels of radiation being detected in food from the area. After WHO warns real risk is radiation in food supply and Fukushima upgraded to same level as Chernobyl, WHO says there is no need for new public health measures.

Japan Rewrites History Forcing Top Official To Retract Statement Fukushima Will Remain Permanently Uninhabitable.

Japanese media is reporting that Government has forced a top official to retract his report about comment the Prime Minister of Japan made behind closed doors.

A top Japanese Cabinet adviser revealed to the press that the Prime Minister said that the areas around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant would not be inhabitable for a long period of time.

Apparently the comment made behind closed doors was not supposed to be made public and the official has been forced to retract the report and Prime Minister denies ever making the comment.

Edano apologizes over Kan’s reported remark

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano has apologized to the public over media reports about the long-term inhabitability of areas around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

An adviser to the Cabinet, Kenichi Matsumoto, at first told reporters on Wednesday that the Prime Minister remarked that areas around the nuclear plant will be inhabitable over a long period. He later retracted his comment and the Prime Minister himself also denied making such a statement.

But the reports have angered local leaders, including the Fukushima governor.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Edano reiterated that Kan never made such remarks.

But Edano said it is regrettable that the reports have caused concern to residents who have evacuated from around the plant.

Thursday, April 14, 2011 16:12 +0900 (JST)

Source:NHK

In related news food from the area surrounding the power plant is now showing high levels of nuclear radiation from the plant.

High radioactivity detected in fish, vegetables

The health ministry has detected radioactivity above the legal limit in fish caught off Fukushima Prefecture and 11 kinds of vegetables grown in the prefecture.

The ministry says it found 12,500 becquerels per kilogram, or 25 times the limit, of radioactive cesium in small fish called sand lances caught off Iwaki City, south of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Wednesday. It also discovered 12,000 becquerels, or 6 times the limit, of radioactive iodine in the fish.

On April 7th, sand lances caught off the city were already found to be contaminated with radioactive cesium in excess of the limit. Sand lances caught off Ibaraki Prefecture, south of Fukushima, were also found to be polluted with the radioactive substance.

The central government says sand lances are currently not being sold as fishing cooperatives in the 2 prefectures are not in operation.

Radioactivity was also detected on 11 kinds of vegetables sampled in Fukushima on Monday.

Authorities detected 1,960 becquerels per kilogram, or 4 times the legal limit, of cesium on Japanese parsley, known as Seri, grown in Soma City.

On Wednesday, the government banned the shipment of some shiitake mushrooms grown outdoors in eastern Fukushima after detecting radioactivity above the legal limit.

Thursday, April 14, 2011 07:28 +0900 (JST)

Source: NHK

Let’s not forget that the WHO has said the real risk in Japan is radiation tainting the food.

WHO: Real risk if radiation contaminates food

Posted: Mar 21, 2011 11:27 AM EDT
Updated: Mar 24, 2011 12:48 AM EDT

By FRANK JORDANS
Associated Press

GENEVA (AP) – Japan needs to act quickly and ban food sales from areas around the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant if food there has excessive levels of radiation, the World Health Organization said Monday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that radiation in some Japanese milk and vegetables was “significantly higher” than levels Japan allows for consumption, and Japanese authorities are expected to decide by Tuesday on a comprehensive plan to limit food shipments from affected areas.

A spokesman for the Geneva-based U.N. health agency said contaminated food poses a greater long-term risk to residents’ health than radioactive particles in the air, which disperse within days. It was the strongest statement yet from the world body on radiation risks to ordinary people, not nuclear workers.

“They’re going to have to take some decisions quickly in Japan to shut down and stop food being used completely from zones which they feel might be affected,” Gregory Hartl told The Associated Press . “Repeated consumption of certain products is going to intensify risks, as opposed to radiation in the air that happens once and then the first time it rains there’s no longer radiation in the air.”

The government has already stopped shipments of milk from one area and spinach from another, and said it found contamination on two more vegetables – canola and chrysanthemum greens – and in three more prefectures. On Sunday, the Health Ministry also advised a village in Fukushima prefecture not to drink tap water because it contained radioactive iodine. It stressed, however, that the amounts posed no health threat.

[…]

Source: NBC/KNDO/KNDU

Shockingly, even with the reports of high levels of radioactivity in the food, Japan is allowing milk from the Fukushima disaster area to be sold to unsuspecting consumers.

Fukushima-produced milk returns to stores

With Record High Levels Of Radiation Detected In Fukushima Food Japan Allows Fukushima Milk Back In Stores To Be Sold To Unsuspecting Consumers

With Record High Levels Of Radiation Detected In Fukushima Food Japan Allows Fukushima Milk Back In Stores To Be Sold To Unsuspecting Consumers

Milk from farms in inland regions of Fukushima Prefecture has returned to supermarket shelves after clearing weeks of safety checks for radiation.

The shipment of raw milk from the prefecture was banned in late March in the wake of problems at the quake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

But the restriction was lifted last Friday for farms in 7 cities and towns in the Aizu region, over 100 kilometers west of the damaged plant. The move came after three separate tests found that milk produced there contained radiation levels below the government’s acceptable limit.

A local supermarket began selling the milk on Thursday.

The manager said the shop will try to keep stocking the milk now that it has been permitted for sale.
A shopper said he came after hearing the news because he prefers locally produced milk.

Shipments of milk from 500 farms in 30 other cities, towns and villages in Fukushima are still banned while central and local governments continue their weekly radiation tests.

Thursday, April 14, 2011 16:12 +0900 (JST)

Source: NHK

I know, doublespeak, doublespeak. Here is some more.

In light of the Fukushima Disaster being upgraded to same disaster level as Chernobyl, which is actually being called “Chernobyl on steroids” by foreign press, WHO says no additional new public health measures are needed.

WHO: No need for new public health measures

The World Health Organization says there is no need for new public health measures against the nuclear incident at the Fukushima nuclear plant at the moment. But it says studies may be needed to keep watch over public health for up to 20 years.

WHO Director of Public Health and the Environment Maria Neira held a news conference on Wednesday after the Japanese government raised the severity level of the nuclear accident to a maximum 7 on the international scale.

She said that public health measures taken by the Japanese government, including enforcing an evacuation zone and relocating nearby residents, are appropriate.

But she also said the organization will need to reassess the situation almost on an hourly basis, because the situation is not yet under control.

Neira said studies will have to be conducted over the next 10 to 20 years, to keep a watch over any public health issues.

Thursday, April 14, 2011 07:27 +0900 (JST)

Source: NHK

Go figure. After warning just days ago the real risk was the food supply being contaminated by radiation and confirmation that the food supply is contaminated with record levels of radiation there is no need for new public measures.


Articles by: Alexander Higgins

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