Extra school texts on radiation fail to detail nuke accident

Updated on: Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Japan's education ministry unveiled supplementary school text books on radiation compliance in the wake of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

The three text books are for elementary schools and junior and senior high schools respectively and describe the basic nature of radiation and day-to-day radiation exposure.

But critics say they fail to refer closely to the disaster at the Fukushima complex and the health risks caused.

For example, the materials for elementary school children touch on health risks only by noting, "It has not been clearly proved that exposure to radiation of less than 100 millisieverts at one time causes cancer and other diseases by itself, but it is important to minimise the exposure as much as possible."

Masako Sawai, researcher at the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, said the supplementary materials "should have clearly noted how the (radioactive) contamination has spread following the nuclear disaster and how it will affect our future."

"As children are forced to face radioactive materials into the future, the government has a responsibility to explain the post-disaster situation and risks caused by radiation," Sawai said.

It cost around 36 million yen to compile the supplementary materials, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will distribute the 80,000 copies to schools and education boards across the country later this month.

They will also be made public on the ministry's website.

Japan was struck by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake on March 11 followed by a Tsunami that seriously damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing leakage of radioactive radiation.

Extra school texts on radiation fail to detail nuke accident

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