Parent anger plays role in Japan's reversal of raised radiation limits at schools

Source: Los Angeles Times

Parent anger plays role in Japan's reversal of raised radiation limits at schools
Japan's Education Ministry has pulled an about-face, returning exposure limits for schoolchildren 1 millisievert a year. Officials will also pay for removing surface soil from affected schoolyards.

By John M. Glionna and Kenji Hall, Los Angeles Times
May 29, 2011

Reporting from Tokyo— The parents were furious: Why, they demanded, had Japanese officials raised the acceptable level of radiation exposure for schoolchildren near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant?

By upping the limit, children were allowed on playgrounds containing higher levels of radioactivity than had been permitted before the nearby atomic plant was damaged by the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the parents said. While it may be impossible to rid the air of dangerous isotopes, they added, the ground is a different matter.

At a government-convened meeting here this month, parents demanded that authorities reinstate stricter radioactivity standards and begin stripping the top layer of soil off contaminated playgrounds. But officials stood their ground. And in a nation where polite public discourse is the norm, the dialogue quickly turned hostile. A woman in the front row cut off one spokesman:

"In the playground, in the sandbox, children put dirt into their mouths! They breathe in the dust! You should do the same! Lick the dirt!" she shouted to applause. "You wouldn't do this to your own kids!"


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-radiation-children-20110529,0,6286849.story

Altho, while I applaud removing the dirt, isn't the air contamination bad there?

for May 30, 1:00 p.m. local time:

http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/j/sokuteichi1820.pdf

The top two rows show where the readings were taken (translated below)-- 1st row, district; 2nd row, municipality
The 3rd row shows normal readings
The 4th row shows the readings that were taken about an hour an a half ago

Locations:

Northern Fukushima District
1. Fukushima City
2. Nihonmatsu City

Central Fukushima District
3. Koriyama City
4. Tamura City (City Hall)
5. Tamura City (parking lot at Joyo annex)
6. Fukushima Airport (Tamakawa Village)

Southern Fukushima District
7. Shirakawa City

Aizu District
8. Aizuwakamatsu City

Minami Aizu District
9. Minami Aizu Town

Soso District
10. Minami Soma City
11. Iidate Village

Iwaki District
12. Iwaki City

some DUers would be chiding others that this behavior is uncivil, unacceptable, disrespectful, etc., & etc.

I don't think well of them