US Ambassador to Japan in #Fukushima: "Presence of US Citizens in Fukushima Will Appeal to the World That Fukushima Is Safe"

Mr. John Roos, US Ambassador to Japan, is visiting Fukushima with officials from 30 US companies in decontamination business, promising full cooperation in Fukushima's effort to have the residents come back to their homes in the areas contaminated with radioactive materials from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

He also put in a word that the presence of the US citizens, working on the decontamination projects in Fukushima, will be beneficial as it will appeal to the world that Fukushima is now safe.

It was Mr. Roos who recommended the US citizens in Japan to leave the 50-mile (or 80-kilometer) radius from the plant, right after the accident started on March 11, 2011. But now, the US businessmen can be "safely" in Fukushima. After all, US college kids and high school kids have already been in Fukushima, doing cultural exchange and volunteer cleanup work.

So of course it is safe for adults...

From Fukushima Minpo (6/28/2012; emphasis is mine):

除染業務　米国が全面協力　ルース駐日大使が佐藤知事に約束

US will cooperate in all aspects of decontamination work, US Ambassador to Japan Roos promises Fukushima Governor Sato

　米国のルース駐日大使は２７日、県庁で佐藤雄平知事と懇談し、米国の技術を生かし、除染事業に全面協力する考えを示した。米国の除染関係企業３０社の関係者が一緒に訪れた。

US Ambassador to Japan Roos met with Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato on June 27 at the Fukushima prefectural government office, and told him that the US will cooperate in all aspects of decontamination work utilizing the US technologies. Officials from 30 US companies in decontamination businesses accompanied Ambassador Roos.

　ルース大使は「米国は除染分野で最先端の技術を有しており、福島が抱える問題を解決するパートナーになれる。ここにいる人たちも福島のために何かできないか考えている」と述べた。さらに「米国民が福島に居ることで、全世界に（福島が）安全な場所であることをアピールできる」と語った。

Ambassador Roos said, "The US possesses the cutting-edge technologies in decontamination, and can be a good partner to solve problems that Fukushima faces. All these people here [probably referring to the businessmen who accompanied him] are also thinking of what they can do to help Fukushima." He further said, "By having the US citizens in Fukushima, we can appeal to the entire world that [Fukushima] is safe."

　佐藤知事は東日本大震災後の米国からの支援に感謝した上で「県民の帰還を進める上で除染は大きな課題。今回の来県を通して技術を高めてほしい」と期待を寄せた。

Governor Sato thanked the ambassador for the help from the US after the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami, and said "Decontamination is a huge task as we proceed on having the residents return home. I hope the visit to Fukushima this time will [further?] enhance your [decontamination] technologies."

　一行は、福島市の杉妻会館で県と福島市の担当者から県内の除染の現状や進捗（しんちょく）状況の説明を受けた。
　引き続き、福島市の南向台、大波両地区と伊達市の除染現場を視察した。

The group was briefed on the progress of decontamination work in the prefecture by the officials from the prefectural government and the Fukushima City government in Sugitsuma Kaikan [conference center and lodge run by the Fukushima prefectural government] in Fukushima City. Afterwards, they visited the decontamination sites in Nankodai and Onami Districts in Fukushima City and in Date City.

Ambassador Roos visited Fukushima in January this year, and spent more than one hour talking to residents from Okuma-machi in their temporary housing in Iwaki City. That's much more than most Japanese government politicians have done.

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US Ambassador to Japan John Roos Visited Fukushima I Nuke Plant with NRC, DOE Experts

The visit was part of the ambassador's visit to Fukushima Prefecture on January 16. It was his first visit to Fukushima Prefecture ever.

The visit to the nuclear power plant was not open to the press, and details are unknown.

From Kyodo News (1/16/2012):

ルース米大使、福島を初視察　「住民の危機去ってない」

Us Ambassador to Japan Roos visited Fukushima for the first time, says "Danger to the residents are not over"

ルース駐日米大使は１６日、福島県を初めて訪れ、事故発生から１０カ月たった東京電力福島第１原発（双葉町、大熊町）を視察した。いわき市の仮設住宅では１時間以上、大熊町の避難住民６人から暮らしぶりなどを聞き「ここで暮らす人たちに危機はまだ去っていない。米国政府は日本政府と連携し、可能な限りの支援をする」と報道陣に述べた。

US Ambassador to Japan John Roos visited Fukushima Prefecture for the first time on January 16 and visited Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant (located in Futaba-machi and Okuma-machi) ten months after the start of the accident. At temporary housing in Iwaki City, he spent more than one hour talking to 6 residents from Okuma-machi. He later told the press, "The danger to the people who live here is not over. The US government, in collaboration with the Japanese government, will do all it can to support them."

　福島第１原発の視察は非公開。米国のエネルギー省（ＤＯＥ）や原子力規制委員会（ＮＲＣ）の専門家らとともに、復旧の進み具合を見て回ったという。

The ambassador's visit to Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant was closed to the public. The ambassador is said to have surveyed the progress for restoration work with experts from the US Department of Energy and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

　視察後、津波で４０９世帯が浸水したいわき市の久之浜地区を訪れ、堤防に上がって花を手向け黙とう。

After the visit to the plant, he visited Hisanohama District of Iwaki City where 409 homes were flooded by the tsunami. He dedicated flowers and stood in silence for a few moments on the coastal embankment.

Well, spending more than 1 hours with the evacuees is much more than what the Japanese politicians have done.

The news of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant has almost totally dried up ever since PM Noda's silly declaration of "cold shutdown state". What I suspect though is that the silly declaration was a signal to the Japanese media to stop reporting on the plant regularly (which they did) and the real work at the plant could start, away from the media's eyes. (Not that they were seeing much to begin with.)

In that regard, the fact that the experts from the US DOE and the NRC accompanying the ambassador is very interesting. After all, they may know more about the plant than the Japanese, having received SPEEDI information since March 14, 2011 (Japanese people were told at that time SPEEDI was not working) and other technical information from the Japanese government and TEPCO which haven't been disclosed to the Japanese public.

TEPCO is supposed to start the effort to probe inside the Containment Vessel of Reactor 2 with an endoscope on January 17, first by drilling into the CV. They will insert the endoscope on January 19.

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