Japanese government conceals high radiation data in Fukushima region from public

The Japanese government has postponed releasing the results of its latest measurement of radiation in three municipalities of the Fukushima region, a report said. The reason is the results are higher than expected, an unnamed source said in an interview with the Mainichi newspaper, Japan Daily Press reported. The matter is that the three municipalities in question currently have an active evacuation order, which might be lifted soon, and the government supports the lifting. That is why the Cabinet Office team decided to withhold the data as it might discourage residents from going back. The recent measurements were significantly higher than expected, the levels were at 2.6 to 6.6 millisieverts a day, while expectations were at 1 to 2 millisieverts. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency and National Institute of Radiological Science decided to recalculate the results basing on an assumption that people would spend shorter periods outdoors than it is usually assumed in these cases (six hours instead of eight). The new results were submitted to the Cabinet Office team, and they plan to announce them later this month. Atsuo Tamura from the Cabinet Office team has confirmed the recalculation and unreleased documents, but denied any attempts to conceal anything. But a professor of radiation and hygiene from the Dokkyo Medical University Shinzo Kimura has another opinion. "The assumption of eight hours a day outside and 16 hours inside is commonly used, and it is strange to change it. I can’t see it as anything but them fiddling with the numbers to make them come out as they wanted," he said.