Japan Crisis: Entering the Radiation Zone - Discovery News

http://news.discovery.com/human/japan-crisis-entering-the-radiation-zone-110509.html

Analysis by Ian O'Neill

Mon May 9, 2011 07:58 AM ET

Ian Thomas Ash, originally from New York, is a freelance documentary filmmaker who has lived in Japan for 10 years. When the magnitude-9.0 earthquake hit off the coast of northeastern Japan on March 11, Ian felt its effects in the nation's capital, Tokyo. The impact of the quake, tsunami and the ongoing threat of radioactive fallout from the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant 150 miles away is taking its toll.

In a recent guest article for Discovery News, Ian documented the impact the ongoing crisis was having on the populace of the nation's capital. He also wrote about what he saw during a trip to the city of Ishinomaki, one of the many cities hit hard by the tsunami. Last month, Ian documented the journey made by a group of volunteers led by three brothers who travel to tsunami-devastated Ishinomaki City. He also interviewed ENS Margaret Morton, who was stationed aboard the Navy destroyer USS Mustin when the earthquake struck.

In this special guest article, Ian ventures inside the stricken Fukushima power plant's 30 kilometer radiation exclusion zone with cameraman Colin O'Neill (Discovery News Space Producer Ian O'Neill's father) to document the conditions the local population are currently enduring.

You can see more of Ian's documentary work by visiting Ian's YouTube Channel. He also regularly updates his personal blog, Documenting Ian.