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       September 6, 2011

　

(CNN Student News) -- September 6, 2011 Radiation Concerns AZUZ: Japan is on the Ring of Fire. The island nation was jolted by a tremendous earthquake in March, and the tsunami that came afterward flattened some of the buildings that were still standing. It also caused a nuclear meltdown that could take years to clean up. Kyung Lah shows us what life is like in a crippled part of the country. KYUNG LAH, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): A radiation meter`s static is the constant background noise to Yuki Osaku and her two young children`s day. Six months after Japan`s nuclear crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant began, Osaku has more, not less anxiety about her air, food and water. Radiation readings outside the house are elevated, even though she lives in Kashiwa, just north of Tokyo, 200 kilometers away from the crippled plant. But Kashiwa is a relative hot spot. If a family lived outdoors a full year, the exposure would be 10 times higher than before the nuclear crisis began, but still at a level the government calls safe. But Osaku won`t take any chances. Her children live indoors, and if she must go outside, she wears a mask. Eating and drinking is now a constant source of fear. "I don`t believe the government," she says. "As I do more research, there`s nothing to make me feel at ease about our safety." LAH: From the mother, here to the streets of Tokyo, it`s a sentiment that`s only grown in the last six months, suspicion and distrust of both Japan`s government and of TEPCO, the owner of the crippled nuclear plant. HIRO HASEGAWA, TEPCO SPOKESMAN: Just after the accident, there were, you know, so many things happened, I should say, you know, sometimes we didn`t know what`s happening there. It might have frustrated so many people. LAH (voice-over): The biggest frustration, TEPCO`s slow release of information. TEPCO took months to admit that three of the nuclear cores suffered full meltdowns at the plant. Temporary cooling systems are now in place, keeping the cores stable, but Fukushima remains a crisis, the cold shutdown not expected until early next year. Twenty kilometers around the plant is a closed-off hazardous zone. Eighty-eight thousand residents still have no idea if they`ll ever be able to return to their homes. (END VIDEO CLIP)