By Ayako Mie
As the nuclear threat intensifies at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, people are increasingly frustrated with the assessments by Japan’s government as well as Tokyo Electric Co.
- Ryugo Hayano’s profile image on Twitter.
They’re turning to another source that some consider more trustworthy: Twitter.
Ryugo Hayano, chair of the department of physics at the University of Tokyo, has been busy since Friday. Sitting in front of the TV all day long with his iPad and laptop, he has been monitoring press conferences and posting his comments on Twitter.
One day after the earthquake, Mr. Hayano, via his Twitter account, @hayano, wrote that it would not be disastrous as long as the containers are protected.
On Monday, he said that according to a Three Mile Island Accident report, residents within 50 miles of the facility were exposed to 1% of the radioactive materials that a person is exposed to in a year, because the container was protected.
In his Twitter profile, Mr. Hayano writes that he is not an expert on nuclear power — his specialty is experimental nuclear physics — but he would like to offer scientifically accurate information on the stricken plant in Fukushima.
“People are worried, and ask me on Twitter if it is safe in Tokyo,” he said. He answers those questions whenever possible.
His “online lectures” have spread through word-of-mouth among people who are dissatisfied with the government’s communications. Before the quake, he had around 2,000 followers, according to Mr. Hayano’s wife. Since then, the number has shot up to more than 141,000.
One follower, @ryuichikawasaki, urges others to follow Mr. Hayano if they are worried about the nuclear power plant.
Other experts are following Mr. Hayano’s lead. The laboratory team lead by Keiichi Nakagawa, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo Hospital’s Radiology & Biomedical Engineering department, launched a Twitter account on Wednesday. Within 24 hours, @team_nakagawa had gained more than 143,000 followers.
For your cooling problem can be solved could use refrigerants mixtures (acetone + dry ice) or Liquid N2 and He in different proportions.
I appreciate his effort very much. He have been supplying data of the radiation level (mili-/micro-/nano-Sv per hour) from various sources which survives the earthquake, and analyzes those data to explain that the radiation at time to time was not harmful to human. This is very scientific attitude, I think, and prevent people from panic. He also explains the meaning of the official statements with a valid criticism, from his professional knowledge/experience. Thank you, Prof. Hayano.
NHK very early in the nuclear crisis, insisting that it was impossible to have much problem with the nuclear plant Japan had. His comments was very misleading in the hindsight because of lack of proper warning for the worst case scenario. Wonder if any high officials have been influenced by his opinion and become complacent and slow in handling the crisis. The whole crisis seemed to be handled in a very ad hoc manner. Someone might have misses an early time window to some worse case scenario planning.