We're all nuclear workers now?
NHK public broadcasting has reported that certain businesses in the evacuated village of Iitate, downwind of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant catastrophe, are being allowed by the Japanese federal government to continue operations, provided they monitor the radiation exposure suffered by their workers. Whether these non-nuclear workers are to be treated as members of the public, or as nuclear power plant workers, in terms of how much radioactivity per year they are allowed to be exposed to (100 mRem/yr for members of the public, 5,000 mRem/yr for nuclear workers under normal circumstances, 25,000 mRem/year for nuclear workers in the face of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe) is not reported. Controversially, the Japanese federal Ministry of Education has deemed 2,000 mRem/yr an "acceptable" radiation dose to school children in Fukushima Prefecture's outdoor school yards. 2,000 mRem/yr is the "allowable" dose the German federal government permits for adult nuclear power plant workers. The 2,000 mRem/yr dose to school children in Fukushima does not account for internal radioactive contamination the children are likely also being exposed to.
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