Japan

日本

[Last updated: Dec 5, 2012]   There are several possibilities:

• ! –> A very large number of monitors across Japan, graphing radiation measurement (in the SI radiation dose unit µSv/h (‘microSievert per hour’ – see Radiation Units for conversion info) in near-real-time: http://ma-04x.net/all.html   This image (below) is a screenshot I took on Dec 5, 2012 (already Dec 6, 2012 in Japan), showing clearly that radioactive particles continue to be blown around and/or released into the atmosphere:  

http://ma-04x.net/all.html on Dec 5, 2012 at around 3:30 pm PST (Screenshot)
CLICK IMAGE or LINK for LATEST.

It’s too bad the graphs don’t show the specific locations in English as well, but perhaps the following is helpful: the parent page (http://ma-04x.net/) has this following menu (with my ‘Google Translator‘ translations added):

全国 (福島県は相双地域のみ)  Japan (Fukushima Prefecture is a bi-phase region only)

• 北海道・東北 (福島県は相双地域のみ)  Hokkaido and Tohoku (Fukushima is bi-phase region only)
• 関東・甲信  Kanto-Koshin
• 北陸・東海  Tokai-Hokuriku
• 近畿・中国  Kinki, China
• 四国・九州  Shikoku and Kyushu
• 福島県全域  Throughout Fukushima Prefecture

• ! –> Japanese government’s SPEEDI:  Real-time radiation data collected via the System for Prediction of  Environment Emergency Dose Information (SPEEDI).

> Word of CAUTION regarding the Japanese official monitoring posts: ‘Levels nearby much higher than some monitoring posts indicate‘.  Also keep in mind that comparing dose rates is not necessarily a dependable way to gauge dangers from fallout.  See Caution with links at ‘Health Exposure Effects’!  

• !–> For Tokyo, there are (at least) these three live monitors with graphs and important weather information:
  • !->  For Hino Tokyo (also see screenshots and more, further down on this page): http://park30.wakwak.com/~weather/geiger_index.html
  • !->  For Adachi-ku Tokyo and Shinjuku-ku Tokyo, see ‘SecurityTokyo‘: http://securitytokyo.com/
• ! –> Sometimes reports on Ex-SKF News (one-of-a-kind blog, translates Japanese news sources to English)
• Radiation dose monitoring data from Fukushima and Ibaraki (GOOGLE/GREENPEACE)
• !–> MEXT – Ministry of Education Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan (ReadingS of environmental radioactivity levels, English version.)
• Institute for Information Design Japan (IIDJ) has made radiation data from the above sources available on interactive map.

• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare – Information about the 2011 Toh0ku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake
• NISA – Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.  The Japanese government’s nuclear “safety regulator”.
• JAIF (Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc.)
• IRSN  (France’s radiological protection agency.)
• Tatsujiro Suzuki on Facebook (Vice Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, Japan)

Japanese News Sources

• !–> NHK World  Live NHK Japan News and Video link (English)
• ! –> Ex-SKF News (one-of-a-kind blog, translates Japanese news sources to English)
• Japan Times
• JIJI Press (English page of the Japanese news service)

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The above is for quick reference.   There are more options for news and data to explore below this line. 

Useful Organizations:

• CNIC (Citizen’s Nuclear Information Center) — A network of scientists, activists, and common citizens working to create a nuclear-free world.
• EnerWebWatch — Special news section on Japan from an international monitoring service for stakeholders in energy and climate policy.
• Fairewinds Associates — Expert research, analysis and opinions backed by nuclear industry and legal experience. フェアウィンズ・アソシエイツ
• Friends of the Earth International — Blog of the world’s largest grassroots environmental network.
• Midori.info — Information on food contamination from the Fukushima disaster
• Nuclear Information & Resource Service: Nuclear Crisis in Japan — Information and networking center for citizens and environmental organizations concerned about nuclear power, radioactive waste, radiation, and sustainable energy issues.
• Peace Philosophy Centre — A space for dialogue and learning in support of the creation of a peaceful and sustainable world.
• Safecast — Radiation measurements from a variety of sources.
• The Asia-Pacific Journal — “In-depth critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific…and the world.”

The Institute for Information Design Japan (IIDJ):  ”Concerned with the lack of understandable information in the current situation, IIDj is collecting all available measurements to compile a consistent and comprehensive Japan Radiation Map.  Most of the data used are updated hourly …” [Continue Reading]    Screenshot from one of the many data presentation on IIDJ (April 11, 2012):

Japan Radiation Map | 日本語 |
This map shows most recent radiation measurements, collected from different sources. On roll-over specific information is provided for that particular location where radiation levels are visualized by the colored square area’s size. Locations marked with the + sign reveal more locations on zoom-in.
CLICK IMAGE TO SEE LATEST @ SOURCE, http://jciv.iidj.net/map/

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BELOW:  Most of the links listed below still work, but where they don’t, I’m leaving them up as a tribute to (and archive of) how this blog got started.   — I put this list together within days after the Fukushima-Daiichi NPP disaster, and improved upon it for many weeks.  It was really good in March-April 2011. Unfortunately some sites have reduced, rather than improved, their access since.  :-/ I’m leaving it as-was for now.  See the newer above link(s), and the Radioactivity tab for more.]  /

• CAUTION: Comparing dose rates is not necessarily a dependable way to gauge dangers from fallout.  See Caution with links at ‘Health Exposure Effects’.

Fukuchima Situation Updates

• –> FaireWinds Associates - Nuclear Engineer Arnie Gundersen‘s updates
• –> CNIC - Citizens Nuclear Information Center, a Tokyo-based organization, with  UStream updates (in Japanese with English interpreter).
  
• –> Fukuchima Green Action (blog): http://fukushima.greenaction-japan.org/
• –> NKH - NKH World TV – Japan [English]
• –> Kyodo News – (English)
• …   IAEA - International Atomic Energy Agency: Briefings on Fukushima Nuclear Accident. (Caution: they are a de facto part of the nuclear industry)
• See also  *NEWS* and my Blog for more.

JAPAN RADIATION DATA SOURCES:

• –> IIDJ (added April 11, 2012) : Institute for Information Design, http://pub.iidj.net/

• –> MEXT – Monitoring Posts out of 20 Km Zone of Fukushima Dai-ichi.  Data accessible through easy-downloadable PDF-documents with detailed radiation measurements in µSv/hr,  updated every 3 hours. Select a file:  ‘Reading of environmental radioactivity level – (English version)‘ Comprehensive PDF-files with overview of radiation levels in other perfectures, too.

• –> GRAPHED Radiation Levels for Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, Ibaraki, etc., as compiled from various sources: http://fleep.com/earthquake/ With special thanks for contributions from:

Michael Gakuran - http://twitter.com/#!/gakuranman
Roy Berman - http://twitter.com/#!/Mutantfroginc
Martyn Williams - http://twitter.com/#!/martyn_williams
Tokyo Reporter - http://twitter.com/#!/tokyoreporter

• 都内の環境放射線測定結果  -  Monitoring site: Hyakunincho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo:  http://ftp.jaist.ac.jp/pub/emergency/monitoring.tokyo-eiken.go.jp/monitoring/index.html

• –> Greenpeace International’s monitoring team in Japan -blog:http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/ [navigate site for most recent]

• AP –  Japan Latest News – Interactive: (Click on map for updated synopsis) [warning: educational parts may contain nuclear industry propaganda. - see my blog post, here, for an example]

• –> SPEEDI – System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information, is the extensive near-real-time monitoring network of the ‘Japan Nuclear Safety Division’. See clusters of monitoring areas in this image (image is a screen-shot taken March 18, 2011); for Current Measurements, CLICK ON THE IMAGE below, and then select a prefecture to get the most recent data from that prefecture’s many monitoring stations:

Note: These SPEEDI reports are in nGy/hr or ‘nanoGray per hour‘.  See the Radiation Units page for a better understanding of the different units.  The nanoGray allows for differentiation between different absorbtion rates for different species.  Conversion for humans is easy: 1 nGy/hr ≈ 0.001 µSv/hr. On 3/17/2011, a reading of 700 nGy/h thus corresponded with an unusual 0.7 µSv/hr.  See the Radiation Exposure Effects page to help put the measurements into context.

• –> Independent monitor in Hino City, Tokyo: streaming near-real-time Geiger Counter data, reporting in CPM (in this case: 12 CPM≈ 0.1 µSv/hr), plotted on a nice graph.  For additional questions, see their FAQ page (English below Japanese).   Graph is for reference (with normal levels in the 10 – 25 CPM range (≈ 0.08 – 0.21 µSv)

Click on the Reference Graph below (showing normal radiation measurements, Dec 5, 2010) to access the current measurements:

 –> Hino City, Tokyo

• TargetMap – Interactive frequently-updated (data from SPEEDI) radiation map for Japan. CLICK ON IMAGE [screen-shot taken March 21, 2011] for most recent measurements reported here:

• NAZ – Nationale Alarmzentrale (based in Switserland)  Concise overviews of the radiation measurements in Japan.  The map right below [an outdated static screen shot] serves as a reference for measurements on March 19, 2011.  Click on the map(right below) for the most recent measurements reported by NAZ, or check for Updates from the NAZ regarding the situation in Japan. (If you don’t speak German or Japanese, try copy-pasting the text into  Google Translate, or look for a pdf-document like “Radioaktivitätsmesswerte Japan vom 19.03.0900 (pdf)” with the latest date and time.  It may not be best for near-real-time monitoring, it does give a clear overview of the day’s unfolding:

Click on Image for most recent measurement reported by NAZ (based out of Switserland)

• Twitter #Gwatcherver2: over a dozen Twitter feeds with CPM radiation measurements feeds, brought together and graphed. If need be, Google Translate can help to get the gist of the Japanese text.  Check the tweeted-in Data Tables of CPMsfor more details.

• See also *NEWS*, ‘Global‘ and (sometimes) my blog @ Home.

• Additional information can be found on some Twitter feeds. Examples (if any are outdated: search keywords for new/recent):

• #Nuclear
• #Fukushima
• TepcoDisaster# (operators of the troubled reactors)
• The Japan Times
• The Japan Daily
• etc…  (Check also AP, Reuters, etc…)

My heart goes out to the people of Japan suffering under the triple blow of the effects of the earthquake and tsunami, as well as the social, economic and health effects of the ongoing Fukushima Nuclear Disaster.