The press conference was going well for Yasuhiro Sonoda. He confidently reeled off figures showing low levels of contamination at the critically damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant. Then journalists asked him to prove it.
Looking nervous, hands trembling, Sonoda drank a glass of water scooped up from pools inside the plant.
Sonoda, an MP and parliamentary spokesman for the cabinet office, was trying to increase confidence in the efficiency of decontamination procedures.
Water collected from beneath two reactor buildings is decontaminated then used for tasks such as watering plants, which has been the subject of safety concerns in the media.
Speaking at the offices of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the plant, Sonoda said: "Just drinking (decontaminated water) doesn't mean safety has been confirmed, I know that. Presenting data to the public is the best way."
His decision to drink water is not the first time a politician has performed a stunt to allay public health concerns.
Japan's former prime minister, Naoto Kan, and his chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, both ate food from Fukushima after the nuclear crisis.
The people of Japan are being urged to wear wool clothes and stock up on vegetable soup this winter to limit demand on the nation's overstretched power plants.
The government has announced a nationwide "Warm Biz" campaign, calling on the public to resist the temptation to turn the heating up as temperatures fall.
The indications are that this winter may be a particularly cold one in Japan, with the season's first snowfall in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido recorded on Oct. 2, 20 days earlier than usual and the earliest since 1898. The environment ministry is encouraging people to limit their use of air conditioners and heaters by setting room temperatures at offices and in homes no higher than 20C.
Officials are also suggesting that the public wear more layers of clothing and eat food that will be both filling and warming, such as meals containing root vegetables.
As well as losing the energy that the plant produced, operators of Japan's more than 60 reactors that have so far been constructed implemented emergency re-examinations of their designs and safety features. Many of the reactors remain off-line.
Source: CALGARY HERALD
Looking nervous, hands trembling, Sonoda drank a glass of water scooped up from pools inside the plant.
Sonoda, an MP and parliamentary spokesman for the cabinet office, was trying to increase confidence in the efficiency of decontamination procedures.
Water collected from beneath two reactor buildings is decontaminated then used for tasks such as watering plants, which has been the subject of safety concerns in the media.
Speaking at the offices of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the plant, Sonoda said: "Just drinking (decontaminated water) doesn't mean safety has been confirmed, I know that. Presenting data to the public is the best way."
His decision to drink water is not the first time a politician has performed a stunt to allay public health concerns.
Japan's former prime minister, Naoto Kan, and his chief spokesman, Yukio Edano, both ate food from Fukushima after the nuclear crisis.
The people of Japan are being urged to wear wool clothes and stock up on vegetable soup this winter to limit demand on the nation's overstretched power plants.
The government has announced a nationwide "Warm Biz" campaign, calling on the public to resist the temptation to turn the heating up as temperatures fall.
The indications are that this winter may be a particularly cold one in Japan, with the season's first snowfall in the northern prefecture of Hokkaido recorded on Oct. 2, 20 days earlier than usual and the earliest since 1898. The environment ministry is encouraging people to limit their use of air conditioners and heaters by setting room temperatures at offices and in homes no higher than 20C.
Officials are also suggesting that the public wear more layers of clothing and eat food that will be both filling and warming, such as meals containing root vegetables.
As well as losing the energy that the plant produced, operators of Japan's more than 60 reactors that have so far been constructed implemented emergency re-examinations of their designs and safety features. Many of the reactors remain off-line.
Source: CALGARY HERALD
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