Hope of building a new town has been born for the victims of one of the regions of Fukushima Prefecture devastated by the March 2011 quake and subsequent nuclear reactor explosions. It is a newly emerging “dream town” scheme pursued by a non-profit organization known as Happy Road Net (HRN). The projected town will be modeled after the “dream town for children” completed in Slavutych, Ukraine, just 20 months after the Chernobyl disaster of April 26, 1986. Slavutych is 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Chernobyl.

　　　In late September, a delegation of some 30 private citizens representing the Hamadori region on the eastern Pacific coast of Fukushima Prefecture visited Slavutych. The purpose of the privately-financed mission was to learn how Ukraine has recovered from the nuclear disaster that stunned the world 27 years ago.

　　　The delegation was headed by Professor Tadashi Narabayashi of the Graduate School of Engineering at Hokkaido University, who was instrumental in introducing Slavutych to Japan, with Ms. Yumiko Nishimoto, Director-General of HRN, and her colleagues representing the 500,000 Hamadori citizens

　　　“Every time I visit Fukushima, I never cease to be surprised by the disappointingly slow pace of reconstruction,” laments Professor Narabayashi. “Granted that the administration of the Democratic Party of Japan failed

miserably to speed up reconstruction, but there are a number of things the incumbent Liberal Democratic administration has been unable to accomplish in terms of rehabilitating Fukushima. I believe it is only natural that the people of Hamadori have decided to take the initiative in proposing their own ideas to help rehabilitate their hometowns.” Ms. Nishimoto has this to add:

　　　“People in Fukushima are still very disheartened. More than half of the residents of the eight villages and towns that make up Futaba County, popularly referred to as Hamadori, refuse to return to their hometowns because of the contamination and destruction. If this situation is allowed to continue, our hometowns will eventually cease to exist. There is no dream for us to cling to now. We want badly to shatter this thick wall of inertia. That is why we decided to ask Professor Narabayashi to take us to Slavutych, where we were hoping to be able to see our future.”

　　　All the members of the delegation admit having been genuinely surprised with what they saw in Ukraine—especially what they encountered at the site of the former Chernobyl nuclear power station.

　　　“Reports about Chernobyl in the Japanese press make us think the old site is still seriously contaminated by radiation, requiring one to put on protective clothing to approach or enter the site,” remarks Ms. Nishimoto, adding with a smile: “But that was far from the actual situation. All the workers we saw there donned ordinary work clothes. We had lunch together in the restaurant at the site. It was the most delicious meal during our trip.”

“Misinformation Contamination”

　　　The township of Pripyat is located three kilometers (about two miles) from Chernobyl. All of the town’s former residents were ordered to evacuate right after the accident. Their empty homes became the living quarters for technicians who worked at the ruins of the power station following the accident. But the technicians had all left by 2000 and the residents never returned, turning Slavutych into a ghost-town. What continues to be predominantly reported in Japan is the story of the town of Pripyat. What the Japanese press has utterly failed to depict is the town of Slavutych, where the happy voices of children playing can be heard everywhere.

　　　Slavutych, comprising some 25,000 residents, young and old, is a “dream town” constructed for the employees of the nuclear power station and evacuees from the areas affected by the disaster. In addition to low-rise apartments, rows of detached houses with picturesque red roofs also line the landscape. The detached houses are exclusively for families with more than three children. A township of lush green has been created here, with pathways for automobiles, bicycles, and pedestrians all separated by rows of trees interspersed with recreational grounds and public parks. Nursery schools are located every 400 meters (440 yards), allowing children to walk only 200 meters (220 yards) at the most to reach one. The administrative authorities and the residents conduct weekly exchanges of opinions, which is reflected in the management of the township and its schools and hospital facilities.

　　　Comments Satoru Togawa, who joined the tour from Namie Town:

　　　“When I asked the people I met there how things are after moving to Slavutych, all of them said ‘we are happy we have come here,’ or ‘we are satisfied with the quality of life.’ Hearing them, I was glad that I had decided to come and see first-hand how things are for the victims of the nuclear disaster in Ukraine.”

　　　In Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, the delegation visited the National Radiation Medical Hospital. Here, too, the visitors learned a surprising fact.

　　　“All of the people who worked inside the burning buildings at Chernobyl have apparently died,” notes Togawa. “But hospital authorities told us that the health of the other people who lived in Chernobyl at the time is comparable today to the health of people in other areas of Ukraine.”

　　　Prof. Narabayashi supplemented Togawa’s observations:

　　　“This hospital keeps the medical records of an estimated 23,000 victims of the Chernobyl disaster, examining them periodically and tracking the results. The amount of radioactive particles emitted at Chernobyl was 50 times that emitted at Fukushima. However, based on research spanning 27 years, there is no difference in cancer rates between the former Chernobyl residents and their counterparts elsewhere in Ukraine. ”

　　　The people from Hamadori wanted to know in particular what radiation level was permissible for leading an ordinary life. In Fukushima, there is a wide-spread believe that anything over one millsievert a year is detrimental to human health. When this topic came up, the hospital officials in Kiev asked the visitors from Fukushima to reconfirm the number, wondering if they might not have mistakenly quoted the figure. When they finally understood that the number correctly reflects what is strictly observed in Fukushima, they were quoted as saying:

　　　“The most serious issue we had at Chernobyl was not radioactive contamination, but rather ‘misinformation contamination.’”

　　　According to these experts, it has been scientifically proven that exposure to just one millisievert of radiation a year absolutely does not impair human health. They further noted that this un-scientific information—even if disseminated with the best of intentions—only makes people think they and their children are in danger and leads to unnecessary despair and unhappiness.

　　　To this, Ms. Nimototo adds:

　　　“We were totally stunned to hear that in Ukraine, 300 millisieverts a year is considered the permissible level of radiation.”

　　　It is a different story in Japan, where the government is strictly adhering to 100 millisieverts over five years, i.e., 20 millisieverts a year, based on the standard set by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Japan should definitely honor the ICRP standard. At this time, however, the government’s longer term goal is to attain the one millisievert standard. It is clear that the one millisievert standard, far beyond even the strict ICRP standard, would be going too far.

Needed: Hefty Reconstruction Budget

　　　Aware that a Ukrainian city 5,000 kilometers away has actually risen from a radioactive contamination far worse than Fukushima’s and created a happy township, the people of eastern Fukushima now envision a bigger and brighter future.

　　　“First, we will aim at building a new town capable of accommodating between 5,000 and 10,000 residents,” remarks Ms. Nishimoto. “There will, of course, be great facilities for the young and the old. After all, Futaba County is just three hours’ drive from Tokyo, easy to return to if one so desires.”

　　　The heads of Futaba County’s eight villages and towns are gradually beginning to show interest in the projected town-building scheme. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe adopted a policy of designating some parts of Tokyo as special strategic economic zones, marking Japan’s winning the bid for the 2020 Olympics. Ms. Nishimoto is hopeful that the prime minister will also designate some parts of Fukushima as “new town-building special economic zones.”

　　　“Assuming that an apartment unit costs some \30 million (US$300,000), 20,000 units will cost \600 billion ($6 billion),” points out Prof. Narabayashi. “With the necessary infrastructure expenditures included, we can build a township of 20,000 residents for \1 trillion ($10 billion). Although the government set aside \656 billion ($6.65 billion) to clean contaminated soil, more than two thirds of it, or \445 billion ($4.45 billion), has been left unspent. Of course, no penny should be spared on soil that genuinely needs decontamination work, but the present budgetary surpluses must be transferred to more constructive purposes, such as building the new town that the victims now envision for Fukushima.”

　　　Early though it may appear, I am already looking forward to seeing the Olympic torch pass through the cherry tree lined streets of the new “dream town” that the people of Fukushima and HRN will build.

(Translated from “Renaissance Japan” column no. 582 in the November 14, 2013 issue of The Weekly Shincho)