Test the damn urine!

Drink it!!!!

I'm still searching the Japanese news sites for the truth about what went down at this meeting, but according to some people on the Japanese YouTube version of this video, this may have been a setup. The reason for all the cameras and shouting was supposedly because the majority of the audience in attendance that day were members of "Green Action" and "Greenpeace" who weren't even residents of the affected area. They basically came to further their own anti-nuclear agenda and brought the urine with them knowing that it wasn't these guys jobs to test it. Again, I'm not sure of the truth of all that. If I find out more I'll post again.

EDIT: Did a bit more research and found children from the Fukushima area have had their urine tested back in June, but only trace amounts of Cesium were found--not at any levels that would affect health (0.41~1.13 becquerels per liter of urine).

EDIT2: Yeah, it was a total setup. The whole meeting was organized by an NGO called Friends of Earth Japan (FoE), who have a strong anti-nuclear agenda (the page I linked to is their public announcement of the meeting, including handouts that detailed their strategy for the meeting). They called out to other groups like No Nukes More Hearts who share similar goals. On the No Nukes More Hearts web page that I linked to they encourage all members of the group, whether they are residents or not, to attend the meeting. Other groups that seem to be involved were the Fukushima Protect Children from Radiation Association, Fukushima Fukuro Club (similar to Greenpeace) and Greenpeace Japan, further stacking the audience.

These groups apparently invited government representatives for "negotiations" about the rights of people living in the stricken areas. Realizing the groups were there to grandstand and not actually discuss anything, the government officials eventually withdrew from the meeting--after nearly 2.5 hours of patiently trying to answer questions! The NGO groups quickly edited down and translated the original video of the meeting to further their own purposes, deleting the two hours of the video in which the government members listen to speeches given by various group leaders and try to answer questions from the audience.

You can see the original unedited video of the meeting here. It looks like the attending government officials were only given copies of the questions they would be asked moments before the meeting started (although in fairness if they had gone to the websites I linked to above they would have known what they were walking in to). Before the meeting even begins, the Fukushima Protect Children from Radiation Association drops a petition demanding all children be evacuated from Fukushima. Throughout the meeting, as the government officials try to patiently answer questions from the audience they are routinely interrupted by others who stand up and give speeches (there's a lot of talk about "protecting the children" which always gets a lot of applause).

So yeah, these guys got ambushed. It was basically a successful troll for these NGO groups.

EDIT 3: In the link to the original (uncut) meeting video, you can go to 1:02:00 to see where this clip starts. Notice this clip has been heavily edited and the government officials actually stuck around for ANOTHER HOUR to answer questions before being accosted by the urine-wielding brigade.

@SDGundamX Thanks for the additional background check on the video.

So, do you think the Japanese government is doing all it can to inform and protect their citizens?

Government works.

>> ^goemon:

@SDGundamX Thanks for the additional background check on the video.
So, do you think the Japanese government is doing all it can to inform and protect their citizens?


I see little evidence of some big cover-up going on, as some have suggested. But there are clearly lots of mistakes being made. I would compare it to Katrina in the U.S. because it seems like the same kinds of difficulties are being faced--slow response times, bureaucratic management issues, lack of a clear plan, etc. The current political situation in Japan (Kan is currently a lame duck Prime Minister who refuses to step down) makes getting anything done extremely hard. Complicating matters even more is the fact that Tokyo Electric is a private company and not government-owned and they apparently aren't coordinating that well with the government in formulating a response, which sometimes results in press conferences where Tokyo Electric says one thing only to be completely contradicted by a Japanese government official in a subsequent press conference.

Certainly Fukushima residents have lots to complain about. For example, in the full version of the meeting, the government officials get asked if the government is taking into account internal radiation exposure (from inhaling or ingesting radioactive materials like Cesium) when determining "safe" radiation exposure levels (currently set at 20 mSv/year for Fukushima residents outside the mandatory evacuation zone). It's a great question. The government's response was along the lines that they are still investigating the issue, but that it is complicated by the fact that there's lots of research on "safe" external exposure levels but not nearly as much on internal exposure levels to the the types of materials (Cesium-137, for instance) that were released in the accident. That makes it difficult to determine a "safe" limit. Clearly that's not an answer that's going to put any Fukushima resident's mind at ease.

EDIT:

Just wanted to add that I give props to the government guys who showed up for this meeting. If you watch the 2.5 hour vid, you'll see they calmly put up with all of the interruptions and try their best to honestly answer the questions posed to them. Many of them show sincere sympathy to the people gathered there and express their understanding of the frustration they are facing. They look like they actually came expecting a dialogue rather than an inquisition. I probably would have walked out after the 1st hour but they remain until the very end of the meeting. The vid posted here makes it seem like they abruptly left but in the full version you can see the person who is chairing/MC'ing the meeting thanks them for coming and concludes the meeting. It was after the conclusion of the meeting that the urine-chasers appeared.

@SDGundamX

I would not go so far as saying I "respect" the poor government guys for showing up; isn't that the bare minimum they can do (meeting with the constituents)?

As far as a "big cover-up going on", I will agree that the government is challenged by its own legendary bureacracy and sloth. And the privatization of the energy industry certainly complicated matters.

But there would appear to be some credible evidence that the government have been withholding data if not outright suppressing it. The latest news is that they have awarded an agency with a contract to monitor and report on any statements made in the internet (ie twitter, forums, etc) about the nuclear situation and to "correct" and record such statements (and the people who made them). I'm still not sure whether this is simply market analysis or propaganda/censure (as suggested by a member of the Tokyo Bar Association), but I know I don't like that the government has time/money/energy to spend on this kind of activity.

(Sorry that some of the links above lead to Japanese-only sites/info.)

As far as audience members in the video not being residents from the "affected area": how do we measure the "affected area"?
Do we use the area defined by the government (conveniently short of the major Tohoku Expressway connecting commerce between Tohoku and Kanto)?
All of Japan (which is still receiving food originated from prefectures around the nuclear plant)?
Do we include the ocean (where less data appears available)?

I think it's difficult to say.

cheers,
goemon

EDIT: Re-inserted hyperlinks...

@goemon

I think you misread what I said. I wasn't praising them for showing up, I was praising them for their calm response to 2.5 hours of grandstanding by a bunch of groups that clearly showed up with the intent of trying to make the government look as bad as possible so they could make this misleading video and further promote their agendas. I was also praising the genuine compassion that several of the representatives showed in response to the few local people who actually stood up to tell their stories.

Do you have links to the statements you made above? Nothing in your post seems to be hyperlinked...and Japanese-only is fine. If you're up on current affairs in Japan, then you're aware of the scandal involving Kyushu Electric and its shady campaign to get the nuclear reactors down there started up again. I haven't seen anything credible yet though about the government covering things up.

Why should the meeting have been locals only? Well, the meeting was entitled "Negotiating the rights of Fukushima disaster victims" which implies that the people doing the speaking should have been the locals and not a bunch of anti-nuclear groups looking to make a name for themselves. The "outsiders" weren't there to negotiate, they were there to record themselves making speeches against these government representatives and then edit out the representatives' replies later on. That's what pissed me off about this clip.

Again, I'm not saying Fukushima people don't have anything to be angry about. But shady tactics like this by people who aren't even in the disaster area are not helping things at all.

@SDGundamX

#1 apology: sorry for misinterpreting and misrepresenting your praise for the officials.

#2 apology: sorry, but the hyperlinks I input do not seem to appear (even despite a re-edit...). Below for reference in all their raw glory:
Gov't withholds radiation data: .
Gov't awards contract to agency to monitor internet (tweets and blogs) for nuclear radiation related comments: .
Gov't contract scope description: .
Comment from Tokyo Bar Association member: .

Agree that the organizations involved should not have re-edited the video to serve as propoganda.

About Kyushu Electric, I could not read the article you linked (blocked by a paywall). Is it about the employees doing the email campaign to influence the start up of the reactors?

cheers,
goemon