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Well, yes and no. The article does cover an increase in radiation:

> Even if a 30-percent margin of error is taken into account, the recent reading, described by some experts as “unimaginable”, is far higher than the previous record of 73 sieverts an hour detected by sensors in 2012.

But it is talking about the reactor. That does not immediately translate into a high radiation level outside, but it shows the potential radiation level we are dealing with. At least in the beginning that radiation leaked, and that might happen again.

Also in Chernobyl there are people living in the zone. If they are old enough that they will die before the radiation will cause cancer, and they are never unlucky enough to step into a pocket of escaping reactor radiation, that's probably not too bad.




It was widely mis-reported at the time. However, they had never reported a radiation reading from this location before. The title of the article is "Fukushima nuclear reactor radiation at highest level since 2011 meltdown". That is not true. It's just have they have a new reading that's higher than previously recorded because it's further inside the reactor.

A better description of the readings can be found here:

http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2017/02/07/radiation-levels-not-so...


It doesn't really matter, does it? Whether it is a raise or not, it is radiation that exists.

Even if attacking the reading itself: The numbers might be wrong, the radiation is undisputed high.


I mean yes it matters to me and to my friends who live in Japan.

Suggesting that levels are increasing implies that new material might be leaving the reactor or that the reactor is becoming less stable. That further implies that you need to re-evaluate the radiation levels in your region and if it's safe to stay there.


It is higher because the measurements were taken closer to the core. If anything, these measurements are good news, because they demonstrate a substantial fuel concentration right there, still inside the containment vessel, which puts limits on the amount that may have leaked. What would have been bad news would be not finding any significant radiation source.


The reporting around this measurement was truly awful. I live in Japan, and it freaked out a bunch of my friends when really nothing had changed.

It was also an estimate made based on the amount of noise seen on CCD camera images. That's a really awful way to measure radiation.


I think the worst reporting on it I've seen was when Robert X Cringely regurgitated a blogspam that badly mangled the Guardian article on it, and used it as "evidence" for an impending "China Syndrome" style meltdown, without even any evidence of a containment vessel breach:

http://www.cringely.com/2017/02/16/no-fracking-way-fukushima...

Complete with appeal to authority and failure to read the source he uses properly...


That's pretty sad. :(

I was a big fan of Triumph of the Nerds [1] and his other documentaries and books. :(

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triumph_of_the_Nerds




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