Fukushima Anniversary Voices from Japan.

Produced by:

KBOO

Program::

Special Programming: Public Affairs

Air date:

Wed, 03/11/2020 - 10:00am to 11:00am

Nuclearhotseat.com - Signs outside the Fukushima Exclusion Zone. In 2019, total of 26 English caution signs were placed in 12 places in exclusion zones to prevent foreigners from trespassing in radioactive areas. (Photo courtesy of U. G. Kaneko)

More Images:

Takeshi Yamakawa of Tokyo Shimbun stands next to a sign on Route 253 near Namie that says, “Exclusion zone: do not enter.” A mega-solar farm built on abandoned farms is on the other side of the highway fence. (Photo courtesy of U.G. Kaneko)

Takeshi Yamakawa of Tokyo Shimbun shows that the air dose level inside a greenhouse in Iitate Village is 0.433 μSv/hour, nearly twice as high as the government standard for outdoors of 0.23 μSv/hour. (Photo courtesy of U. G. Kaneko)

Takeshi Yamakawa of Tokyo Shimbun (black hair) and Iitate Village resident Nobuyoshi Ito (grey hair). Outdoor radiation air dose at this location in Iitate is 0.631 μSv/hour, almost 3x higher than the government limit of 0.23 μSv/hour. (Photo courtesy of

Takeshi Yamakawa of Tokyo Shimbun (black hair) and Iitate Village resident Nobuyoshi Ito (grey hair) conduct experiments on the uptake of cesium in farm products in Iitate Village. (Photo courtesy of U. G. Kaneko)

This week, Nuclear Hotseat's annual Fukushima Anniversary Voices from Japan. We’ll have an exclusive interview with reporter Takeshi Yamakawa, part of Tokyo Shimbun’s Nuclear Power Reporting Team. Later, we’ll gain first-hand impressions of radiation problems in the Exclusion Zone through a travel diary by Nuclear Hotseat’s Voices from Japan investigative reporter, Yuji Kaneko. And we’ll receive an update on the latest radiation problems along the still-planned Olympic Torch Relay route through Fukushima Prefecture with this episode’s co-producer, Beverly Findlay-Kaneko.

Nuclear Hotseat is a weekly program on nuclear issues… from a different perspective. The show is produced and hosted by Libbe HaLevy, a survivor of the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island from just one mile away. It has been in continuous weekly production for nine years, is downloaded in 123 countries, and is syndicated to non-profit and community radio stations through Pacifica Audioport. More than 450 episodes of the show can be found at: www.NuclearHotseat.com.

Libbe HaLevy is producer and host of Nuclear Hotseat, the weekly international news magazine on all things anti-nuclear, since June 2011. She has been a TEDx speaker, an Amazon #1 Bestselling Author, hosted rallies, and led media workshops at anti-nuclear conferences around the country.

Takeshi Yamakawa is a reporter and editor, part of Tokyo Shimbun’s Nuclear Power Reporting Team. He has been covering Fukushima since the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011. He’s interviewed in Japanese by Nuclear Hotseat investigative reporter Yuji Kaneko.