Tokyo, Japan – High-level radiation hot spots have been found at the sports complex where the 2020 Tokyo Olympic torch relays will begin, according to a survey to be released by Greenpeace Japan. The radiation levels around J-Village Stadium in Fukushima Prefecture were as high as 71 microsieverts per hour at surface level. This is 1,775 times higher than the 0.04 microsieverts per hour prior to the Fukushima Daiichi triple reactor meltdown in 2011.
Greenpeace’s Nuclear
Monitoring & Radiation Protection Advisors detected and documented several
radiation hot spots on 26 October during its annual survey, which will be
published in spring 2020. On 18 November, Greenpeace Japan sent a letter to
Minister Koizumi of the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, demanding immediate decontamination measures and assurance that
the public will not be exposed to radiation hot spots during the Olympics and
Paralympics events at J-Village. Copies were also sent to the President of the
International Olympic Committee, as well as the Presidents of the International
Paralympic Committee, Japanese Olympic and Paralympic Committees, and the
Governor of Fukushima Prefecture, who is also the President of J-Village.
Greenpeace has yet to
receive a response from the Japanese government but is publicly releasing the
information on the radiation hot spots due to an article published
today (4 December) by Sankei Shimbun. The
article reports some details of Greenpeace Japan’s letter to the Japanese
government and Olympic bodies, which was leaked to the media by an unknown
official. The article states that the soil around the particular hotspot with
71 microsieverts per hour at surface level was removed by TEPCO yesterday (3
December).
“While general radiation
levels were low at the J-Village, these radiation hot spots are of significant public
health concern. Radiation hot spots of such high levels can be found in the
closed area around Fukushima (so-called Area 3), but should not be present in
publicly accessible areas. Yet, they are at a location that has been the focus
of an extensive decontamination program and is also the starting point for the
Olympic torch relay in Japan.
These radiation hot spots
highlight both the scale of contamination caused by the Fukushima Daiichi
disaster, and the failure of decontamination efforts. We have called on the
Ministry of Environment to act urgently and to initiate immediate
decontamination,” said Kazue Suzuki, Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace
Japan.
The radiation hot spots at
the parking lot close to J-Village are of particular concern because they are
located in an area that is currently visited by a large number of people. The
highest figures were: 71µSv/h at contact, 32µSv/h at 10cm, 6µSv/h at 50cm and
1.7µSv/h at 1m, while the official Japanese government’s decontamination
threshold is 0.23µSv/h.
“There is a risk that heavy
rain will spread these higher levels of contamination on public roads, and thus
re-contaminate already decontaminated surfaces. This could partially undo
earlier efforts to decontaminate the public areas in J-Village. From our
observations, it is unlikely that radiation hot spots of such high levels
re-emerged from re-contamination after the previous decontamination. It is more
logical that the decontamination was not sufficiently and thoroughly conducted
in the first place,” said Shaun Burnie, Senior Nuclear Specialist at Greenpeace
Germany and the team leader of the survey.
To protect public safety,
Greenpeace Japan demands that the Japanese government conduct an immediate and
extensive radiation survey of the public areas in and around J-Village and
nearby Olympic/Paralympic venues. Furthermore, they should promptly conduct
decontamination if further radiation hot spots are identified. Regular
screenings of the radiation levels in J-Village should be also conducted to
monitor possible re-contamination of public areas.
Greenpeace’s Nuclear
Monitoring & Radiation Protection Advisors will soon re-test the J-Village
to determine if subsequent decontamination attempts have been adequately
conducted.
ENDS
Contacts:
Mitsuhisa Kawase,
Communications Officer, Greenpeace Japan, mitsuhisa.kawase@greenpeace.org, +81
(0) 70-3195-4165
Shaun Burnie, Senior
Nuclear Specialist, Greenpeace Germany, shaun.burnie@greenpeace.org, +49
151-6432-0548
