How a Scientist Was Censored by the Japanese Government After the Fukushima Accident

The following was written on September 20, 2013, for an e-mail communication on some mailing lists, based on the information from the Japanese news and a Japanese blog that summarized a series of Asahi Shimbun articles, called Prometheus Trap: Order to Suspend Radiation Monitoring, published in February 2012.  Although the English version of this Prometheus series is available online, only a limited number of articles can be accessed without monthly payments.

Although this post was not originally intended to be publicized as a blog post, it seemed appropriate to include it here because it is important to address Aoyama's statement in view of his past struggle with the governmental interference. 

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On September 18, 2013, the Japan Meteorological Agency scientist, Michio Aoyama, told the audience at the IAEA 2013 Scientific Forum "The Blue Planet - Nuclear Applications for a Sustainable Marine Environment," that 60 GBq of Cesium-137 & Strontium-90 directly go out to the ocean outside of the Fukushima Daiichi port daily, contradicting the Japanese Prime Minister Abe's words about the contaminated water being blocked from going beyond the port.

It turns out that Fukushima Daiichi's undamaged Unit 5 and 6 take up the Fukushima Daiichi port water for cooling and release the contaminated effluent north of the port, directly into the Pacific Ocean.  This fact, by default, invalidates the Prime Minister Abe's infamous "total block" statement.

Michio Aoyama, a senior scientist at Geochemical Research Department of Meteorological Research Institute, Japanese Meteorological Agency, and a long-time researcher of environmental impact of radioactivity, had his research censored by the government shortly after the Fukushima accident.  First, his team was deprived of funding to check environmental radioactivity almost immediately after the accident and ordered not to take any measurements.  (His team learned of the explosion on TV and immediately began taking samples to take measurements.  The radiation levels were so high that their instruments were not able to take proper measurements, so they were in the middle of making adjustments to enable the necessary measurements when the order came not to take any measurements).  But Aoyama's team ignored the order and continued the measurements with the underground support by other research institutes.  Then Aoyama was told not to release his research findings, co-written by Ken Buesseler and slated to be published in Nature, which stated that the Fukushima oceanic contamination was several orders of magnitude higher than that from the past nuclear testing and at least one order of magnitude higher than the contamination in Black Sea and Baltic Sea due to the 1986 Chernobyl accident.  His superior said to take this part out, which was actually written by Ken Buesseler.  Aoyama could not publish this study due to the Meteorological Agency not giving him permission. 

IAEA's Scientific Forum this year happened to be on radiation and ocean, and Aoyama might have seized the moment to reveal the truth.

However, this does not seem to be taken up by the foreign media.  It might be because this is considered a "routine" release.  However, it does not seem to be a common knowledge amongst the general public that normally operating NPPs release so much radioactivity into ocean/river/lake, so the media might not want to draw attention to it.  In Japan, it became a news item because it directly opposed what the Prime Minister Abe told the International Olympic Committee about the contamination being totally blocked at the port perimeter.

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References

IAEA 2013 Scientific Forum Program PDF

http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Meetings/PDFplus/2013/cn207/cn207_Brochure.pdf

Japanese blog covering the summary of the Prometheus Trap series.

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/nonasi8523/e/ab352f01747a567fb965a2dfaa15df28

The Prometheus Trap: Order to Suspend Radiation Monitoring (a series of 15 stories)

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201202060076

Is a Study Abroad Program in Japan Safe?

Everyone has to make their own decisions about participating in a Study Abroad Program in current Japan, but here is one female college student's experience.

"I studied abroad in Japan last fall, from late August to late November. I spent the majority of my time in Kyoto, albeit a few weekend trips to nearby cities. My last two weeks in Japan were dedicated to an independent research study, during which I traveled to Tokyo for five days, Nikko for two days and Sendai for two days. While in Nikko, I experienced a constant headache. From there, I took a bullet train through Fukushima up to Sendai. I experienced a severe migraine while traveling through Fukushima by train, and by the time I got to Sendai, I felt fine. I have a history of migraines since Feb. 2009, when I suffered a concussion from a car accident. Despite that, I hadn't experienced a migraine for at least six months before I went through Fukushima. 

Within the three weeks following my visits to Nikko and Sendai, I experienced on-and-off headaches and migraines. At the time, I was not sure if I could attribute that to radiation exposure or something else like altitude sickness or poor sleep. It was nonetheless unusual for me. 

One week after returning to the United States, I began experiencing more severe symptoms of radiation exposure. I had daily bloody noses that lasted until mid-January. I had frequent stomach pain and nausea. In mid-December, I experienced 48 hours of constant vomiting. I've had food poisoning before, and this was much much worse. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life. During the rest of the week, I continued to vomit on and off, but not continuously. Until about mid-January, my headaches, migraines, nausea and dizziness continued. I did not see a doctor during that time because I was traveling; I had made these plans before my trip to Japan, and I was nowhere near my regular physician. When I saw my doctor after the symptoms had stopped, I was told that there was no way of knowing whether I had experienced radiation sickness or still have radiation in my body. Doctors and nuclear experts have told me that my symptoms were typical of low radiation exposure. It's amazing to me that one can get so sick even from being exposed to radiation for such a short period of time. And for the record, I haven't had any of those symptoms since January. 

In Nikko and Sendai, I ate no fish and drank only bottled water and green tea. In Nikko, I probably had hot tea at my hostel. In Tokyo, I ate sushi near Tsukiji market. No other fish. I didn't eat dairy products, and I had no way of knowing where my rice and vegetables were coming from. At the time, my Kanji knowledge was very poor. "

JFK "Our children and grandchildren are not merely statistics."

The world would be a much better place if all adults shared this sentiment.

Excerpt from President John F. Kennedy's historic speech
http://www.presidentialrhetoric.com/historicspeeches/kennedy/nucleartestban.html
Video 
http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/ZNOo49DpRUa-kMetjWmSyg.aspx


JOHN F. KENNEDY
Radio and Television Address to the American People on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Washington, D.C.
July 26, 1963

"The number of children and grandchildren with cancer in their bones, with leukemia in their blood, or with poison in their lungs might seem statistically small to some, in comparison with natural health hazards. But this is not a natural health hazard-and it is not a statistical issue. The loss of even one human life, or the malformation of even one baby-who may be born long after all of us have gone-should be of concern to us all. Our children and grandchildren are not merely statistics towards which we can be indifferent."

Unexplained Discrepancies Explained in Fukushima Thyroid Cancer Data

On August 22, Mako Oshidori received an e-mail from the Public Relations Department of Radiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima Health Management Survey at Fukushima Medical University, explaining the circumstances surrounding the discrepancies described in this post: http://fukushimavoice-eng2.blogspot.com/2013/08/unexplained-discrepancies-in-thyroid.html

The e-mail, posted at http://no-border.asia/archives/13723, is fully translated into English below.

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In regards to mistakes in the Proceedings of the Eleventh Fukushima Prefecture "Prefecture Health Management Survey" Oversight Committee.

   Apologies for the delay, but we have confirmed how and why the above-mentioned mistakes were made.  They are explained below.

   We will be making an announcement to the prefecture and national residents at a later time, explaining the details.

   We deeply regret and apologize for causing trouble for all involved by making mistakes in extremely important data.

《Corrections made》
① Results of cytological examination

Average age for FY2011 was changed from "17.3 ± 2.0 years" to "17.2 ± 1.9 years."

Age as of March 11, 2011 for FY2011 was changed from "age 11-17" to "age 11-18."

Average age for FY2012 was changed from 16.1 ± 2.6 years" to "16.1 ± 2.8 years."

② Corrections were made for the age and gender distribution graph for 28 cases confirmed or suspected of cancer.

《How mistakes were discovered》

   After the handout material for the Twelfth Oversight Committee, held on August 20, 2013, was submitted to the prefectural government on August 5, 2013, Fukushima Medical University was contacted on August 12, 2013 by the prefectural government in regards to possible mistakes including some of the numbers.

   First the Twelfth Oversight Committee report was reviewed, and the mistakes specified were revealed.

   The committee made appropriate corrections.  

   Then the committee reviewed the proceedings of the Eleventh Oversight Committee meeting containing the same data.  Similar mistakes were discovered and the corrected version was publicized after the August 20, 2013 meeting.

《Reasons why mistakes happened》

(1) Average age and age as of March 11, 2011, for FY2011

   The individual who created the data calculated the ages from birth date of the subjects, but a calculation error was made for one subject in regards to "age at the time of secondary examination" and "age as of March 11, 2011."

(2) Average age for FY2012

   A typographical error was made, showing the standard deviation as 2.6 instead of 2.8.

(3) Age and gender distribution graph

   In creating the age and gender distribution graph for the 28 cases, "age as of March 11, 2011" was calculated by subtracting 2 years from "age at the time of secondary examination."

   In addition, it was revealed that the age and gender did not match due to a sorting error of the individual processing data in making the graph.

   "Age as of March 11, 2011" was corrected, and the sorting error was also corrected.  This changed the number of subject as well as the number of male and female in each age group.  The original data for the 28 cases is accurate and the gender ratio remains as is.

   All of the errors originate in the fact that data processing was not scrutinized and detailed checks were not performed afterwards.  We think the main reasons for the mistakes were because this was the material that was created for the first time for the Eleventh Oversight Committee meeting, and also because the data was handled by a limited number of individuals and did not go through multiple auditing processes.

《Future plans》

   From now on, data processing personnel and all those involved will be reminded of the importance of carefully examining data.  In addition, a system will be established in order to ascertain double checking when creating data.

   As the Thyroid Examination Department encompasses multiple tasks, each person in charge of a specific task created the material (used in the report) and checked it himself/herself up to now.  However, when creating the material to be submitted to the committee, we will check and confirm in an integrated manner by creating a team with clear job descriptions and expectation of responsibilities, and thus try to decrease careless mistakes.

Twelfth Prefectural Oversight Committee Meeting: Thyroid Ultrasound Examination Results

The Proceedings of the Twelfth Prefectural Oversight Committee Meeting for Fukushima Health Management Survey were released on August 20, 2013.  Below is the translation of the thyroid ultrasound examination.

Original Japanese document can be found here: http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/imu/kenkoukanri/250820siryou2.pdf

Official English translation can be found here.

For a summary of the thyroid examination results, please refer to this post.

Note: Errata released on November 13, 2013 can be viewed here with an explanation here. 

1. Implementation status of the initial examination (in-prefecture)
   FY2013 examination began on April 22, 2013.  The examination will be conducted in approximately 158,783 subjects in 34 municipalities by the end of March 2014.
   Currently the examination is being conducted in the municipalities shown below, according to the original plan.

【Implementation status table for thyroid examination (initial examination): in-prefecture】(as of July 31, 2013)

FY2013 target municipalities (only five municipalities where the examination is currently conducted are listed). 
(Note: the top line in column "a" shows the current number of eligible subjects, whereas the bottom line shows an overall number of eligible subjects).

FY2012 target municipalities (Iwaki-city only includes Hisanohama District)

FY2011 target municipalities (13 municipalities designated by the national government as the evacuation zone)

※1　The top row shows the number of subjects who actually underwent the initial thyroid ultrasound examination.  The middle row shows the rate of eligible subjects who were examined in each age group.  The bottom row shows the proportion of subjects in each age group who actually underwent the initial thyroid ultrasound examination.

※2   The number of subjects, originally Fukushima residents, now residing outside Fukushima Prefecture, who came back to Fukushima Prefecture to undergo thyroid ultrasound examination.
● Proportions shown to the first decimal point might not add up to 100% due to rounding off.

● Age shown is the age as of March 11, 2011.

2. Implementation status of the initial examination (out-of-prefecture)

   Thyroid examination has been conducted, since November 1, 2012, at examination facilities outside Fukushima Prefecture which singed an an agreement with Fukushima Medical University.
   Currently, notices for out-of-prefecture examinations are being sent to subjects from municipalities where the examination was implemented up to FY2012.  Examinations are conducted in order.  Breakdown by municipalities are shown below.

【Implementation status table for thyroid examination (initial examination): out-of-prefecture】   

FY2012 target municipalities (as of June 30, 2013)

FY2011 target municipalities (as of June 30, 2013)

※1 The number of notices sent to the eligible subjects who have not undergone examinations at their respective municipalities. (Including out-of-prefecture residents)

● Proportions shown to the first decimal point might not add up to 100% due to rounding off.

● Those who have not undergone the examination may be examined either inside or outside Fukushima Prefecture.

● Age shown is the age as of March 11, 2011.

3. Initial examination results summary for FY 2011, 2012 and 2013

The results confirmed up to the June 7, 2013 examination date, are shown below. For results summary by municipalities, refer to the attachments.

【Summary sheet by assessment categories for thyroid examination (initial examination)】  

Results confirmed up to the June 7, 2013, examination date.          (Unit: upper row-persons, bottom row-%)

※1　The number of results confirmed, "b," denotes the number of subjects examined at examination facilities either inside or outside Fukushima Prefecture, whose results were confirmed.

 ① Explanation of the assessment categories

   (i)   Assessment A: (A1) No nodules or cysts.

                                   (A2) Nodules 5.0 mm or smaller, or cysts 20.0 mm or smaller.

   (ii)  Assessment B: Nodules 5.1 mm or larger, or cysts 20.1 mm or larger.

   (iii) Assessment C: The condition of the thyroid gland warrants an immediate secondary examination.

② Explanation of assessment results

(i) A1 and A2 will be under observation until the next round of examination beginning in FY2015.

(ii) B and C will undergo secondary examination.

(iii) Some A2 cases might be considered B if the condition of the thyroid gland warrants secondary examination.

● Proportions shown to the first decimal point might not add up to 100% due to rounding off.

4. Secondary examination

(1) Implementation status

When lumps (nodular lesions) etc. have been found in the initial thyroid ultrasound examination, secondary examinations will be conducted at Fukushima Medical University, including detailed ultrasound, blood and urine tests, and biopsy if needed).

As of June 2013, the secondary examination is being conducted by three physicians per day instead of two.

Also, in addition to Fukushima Medical University, Hoshi General Hospital in Koriyama City and Fukushima Rousai Hospital in Iwaki City began secondary examination on July 24 and July 26, 2013, respectively.

【Implementation status table for thyroid examination (secondary examination)】

FY2013 target municipalities

FY2012 target municipalities

FY2011 target municipalities

FY2011-2013 municipalities grand total

※1   "a" denotes a total number of subjects who were examined by July 31, 2013, at examination facilities either inside or outside Fukushima Prefecture.

※2   "h" does not include the subjects who have not received the examination results for blood and urine tests and biopsy.

※3   "i" and "j" will be followed up in the full-scale examination beginning in April 2014.

※4   "k" denotes subjects who will be followed up in approximately 6 months to one year using regular health insurance.

● FY2013 results are not shown by municipalities as only a few subjects underwent the secondary examination.

● Proportions shown to the first decimal point might not add up to 100% due to rounding off.

● Secondary examination requires multiple visits, as blood and urine tests are conducted first and the results reported at a later date.

   (2) Number of new patients per month

Trend of the number of new patients for secondary examination which began in March 2012 is shown below.

(3) Summary of results

 ① Results of cytological examination

② Age and gender distribution of 44 cases confirmed or suspected of cancer by cytological examination. (As of July 31, 2013)

※1  FT4: thyroid hormone with four iodine atoms; high in Basedow's (Graves') disease and low in Hashimoto's disease.

※2  FT3: thyroid hormone with three iodine atoms; high in Basedow's (Graves') disease and low in Hashimoto's disease.

※3  TSH: hormone secreted by the pituitary gland, which orders the thyroid gland to release thyroid hormones; high in Hashimoto's disease and low in Basedow's (Graves')  disease.

※4  Tg (thyroglobulin): substance used by the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormones.  Present in the thyroid gland in a large quantity.  High levels indicate destruction of the thyroid gland or overproduction by tumor.

※5  TgAb (anti-thyroglobulin antibody): autoantibody against thyroglobulin; high in Hashimoto's disease or Basedow's (Graves') disease.

※6  TPOAb: autoantibody against an enzyme called peroxidase; high in Hashimoto's disease or Basedow's (Graves') disease.

④ Secondary examination results by municipalities, for in-prefecture examination (as of July 31, 2013)

FY2012 secondary examination results by municipalities for in-prefecture examination

※1  Initial examination subjects include both in-prefecture and out-of-prefecture examinees.

● Those who require urgent clinical assessments will be given priorities for secondary examinations.  

FY2011 secondary examination results by municipalities for in-prefecture examination

※1  Initial examination subjects include both in-prefecture and out-of-prefecture examinees.

※2  Does not include the case that was suspected of cancer after biopsy, which turned out to be a benign nodule after surgery.

※3  Other includes subjects from outside the municipalities designated as the evacuation zone by the government but underwent thyroid ultrasound examination at schools.

(Attachment)

FY2013 thyroid examination results summary for five municipalities (as of July 31, 2013)

FY2012 thyroid examination results summary (as of July 31, 2013)

FY2011 thyroid examination results summary (as of July 31, 2013)

Unexplained Discrepancies in Fukushima Thyroid Cancer Age-Gender Distribution Graphs

The Twelfth Fukushima Prefectural Oversight Committee convened on August 20, 2013, reporting the latest findings of the health survey.  The thyroid examination result showed an increase in the number of children confirmed or suspected of thyroid cancer from 28 to 44, as reported in the previous post: http://fukushimavoice-eng2.blogspot.com/2013/08/18-thyroid-cancer-cases-confirmed-in.html

The information was almost instantly available to the Twitter and social network communities, thanks to the independent journalists attending the committee meeting.  Some members of the public, as well as the journalists attending the meeting noticed a strange discrepancy looking at the age and gender distribution graph of the 44 cases confirmed or suspected of cancer, as shown below.

The June 5, 2013 report showed the graph below for the 28 cases.

(This can be seen on page 32 of the comprehensive report here: http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/imu/kenkoukanri/250625siryouikkatu.pdf. It can also be seen on page 11 of the official English translation of the June report here: http://www.fmu.ac.jp/radiationhealth/results/media/11-2_ThyroidUE.pdf).

In comparing the two graphs, the following observations are made:

1. Both graphs show age as of March 11, 2011, so the basic age distribution should not differ between the two graphs.

2. In age 11, the June graph shows 3 males, yet the August graph shows none.

3. In age 15, the June graph shows 4 females, yet the August graph shows only 2.

4. In age 17, the June graph shows 4 females, yet the August graph shows only 3.

5. In age 18, the June graph shows 2 males, yet the August graph shows only females, totally flipping the gender.

According to the astute observation of a freelance journalist, Mako Oshidori, the Committee released the revised June graph on August 20, 2013, as shown below.

(This can be seen on page 11 of the thyroid examination result file here: http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/imu/kenkoukanri/250605siryou2.pdf).

Comparing the original and revised June graphs, it appears as if the age of the patients, in addition to gender, was categorized totally wrong.

According to Mako Oshidori, who was present at the committee meeting on August 20, 2013, an announcement was made in the beginning of the meeting, in regards to the change that had been made in average age and standard deviation on page 5 of the thyroid examination report.  Apparently, some discrepancies were pointed out by one of the committee members who reviewed the material prior to the meeting.  The announcement was intended to notify the committee members that the material distributed at the meeting contained the corrected version.

http://no-border.asia/archives/13697

Investigation by Mako Oshidori revealed that an official at the Health and Welfare Department of Fukushima Prefecture government, in charge of the Prefectural Health Management Survey, stated that "the original data was handled incorrectly due to the counting error by Fukushima Medical University."

For information, the corrected information that was distributed at the meeting is shown below:

① Results of cytological examination

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Apparently, after making the correction, The committee wondered if the previous report in June needed corrections, and it did indeed need corrected.

Here's the June 5, 2013 results prior to the correction:

The revised June 5, 2013 results, published online on August 20, 2013 is shown below, with the correction inserted by the author in red for clarification in this post:

Going back to the discrepancies in the age and gender distribution graphs, the original graph was online for over two months without anybody noticing the discrepancies until the new August data was released.  The gender ratio in thyroid cancer cases is drawing a lot of attention, as can be seen in the July 20, 2013 post of the English translation of the June 9, 2013 article by Mako Oshidori: http://no-border.asia/archives/12034.  

In children who developed thyroid cancer after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the ratio of females with thyroid cancer was higher than males.  In general population, adult thyroid cancers are found in more females than males.  The June results showed an even male to female ratio at 14:14 overall, but the FY 2012 result had a male to female ratio of 9 : 7, with slight dominance of males, which appears to be an anomaly.  Now the number of cases confirmed or suspected of thyroid cancer has increased from 28 to 44, and the male to female ratio is 18 : 26.  This change in gender ratio might be explained by more cases being discovered and the gender ratio approaching a natural ratio expected of thyroid cancer.  However, the fact that "the original data was handled incorrectly due to the counting error by Fukushima Medical University." raises questions about the integrity of the thyroid examination process itself, especially considering the continued denial by Fukushima Medical University of a possibility that any of these cancer cases could be related to radiation exposure due to the Fukushima nuclear accident.  The committee has repeatedly refused to reveal the exposure dose information for the cancer cases, citing confidentiality.

18 Thyroid Cancer Cases Confirmed in Fukushima Children: Preliminary Results of FY2011-2013 Thyroid Ultrasound Examination

For complete translation of the the thyroid examination results published this time, please refer to this post.

Total number of children examined as of June 7, 2013: 216,809

Total number of children whose initial examination results are confirmed: 192,886

Assessment A1 106,823 (no nodules or cysts found)

Assessment A2 84,783 (nodules 5.0 mm or smaller or cysts 20.0 mm or smaller)

Assessment B 1,279 (requiring secondary examination)

Secondary examination results as of July 31, 2013

(including blood and urine tests, more detailed ultrasound examination, and fine-needle aspiration biopsy if needed)

18 papillary thyroid cancers confirmed after surgery (18 boys, 26 girls, age 8-21)

25 suspected of thyroid cancer, awaiting surgery

1 benign nodule

  The youngest confirmed of cancer is a girl who was 6 years old at the time of the nuclear accident.

1,280 are eligible for secondary examination

771 have actually undergone secondary examination

625 finished the secondary examination

① Results of cytological examination