TOKYO – A Japanese MP drunk water collected from a radioactive puddle inside the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, after journalists challenged him to prove it was safe.
Yasuhiro Sonoda, a lower house member from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, appeared nervous and his hands shook as he downed a glass during a televised news conference.
The water he drank was taken from puddles under two reactor buildings. It is decontaminated before being used for tasks such as watering plants.
The March 11 earthquake and tsunami had wrecked nuclear power plant, causing partial meltdowns in three of its reactors.
Sonoda, also parliamentary secretary for the cabinet office, said he drank the water after journalists repeatedly prodded him during previous news conferences to “prove” the environment around the stricken plant is safe, as claimed by the government and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).
“Just drinking (decontaminated water) doesn’t mean safety has been confirmed. I know that,” Sonoda was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency.
“Presenting data to the public is the best way.” Tepco has been removing radioactive cesium from contaminated water from units 5 and 6 by reducing the density of the substance to less than 50 becquerels per litre. Decontaminated water is then used within the compound for various purposes — but not for drinking.
A 20km exclusion zone is still in force around the plant, and tens of thousands of people have had to abandon their homes.
