it's competence and R&D results are very respected for a long time) is publishing
Sv, Sievert, uSievert refer to the impact on the body by radiation,
not to the physics of the radiation itself, which is measured with different units.
You can see that in Tsukuba the radiation impact on humans is currently on the order of
0.08 - 0.10 micro-Sieverts/hour.
The radiation measurements in Tokyo-Shinjuku show around 0.05 micro-Sieverts/hour.
Click here to see that radiation levels in Austria are in the range of 0.07 - 0.2 micro-Sieverts/hour.
This means that the radiation levels in Tsukuba are currently the same as you would typically experience in Austria, while the radiation levels in Tokyo-Shinjuku currently are about 30% lower than the lowest radiation levels in Austria, and about 4 times lower than the highest radiation levels in Austria. We have made similar comparisons for Italy.
We conclude that currently radiation levels in the Tokyo region are of similar magnitude or lower than in typical European countries.
Regarding radiation, please note also that radiation is not equal radiation, there are
alpha (= Helium nuclei),
beta (= electrons e.g. inside vacumm TV tubes and old fashioned PC terminals) and
gamma rays (= high energy X-rays),
neutrons, and other types or radiation (e.g. neutrinos).
When people talk about "radiation" from the Nuclear power station, they don't usually
mean the direct alpha, beta, gamma radiation or neutrons, which cannot travel far, but they mean radioactive ions. The harmful nature of radio-active ions depends very much on what kind of ions these are, and specially also their half-life, and whether they are attached externally to clothing or shoes, or whether they are inhaled or eaten and remain in the body. Some decay very fast, and others live very long. Some, like plutonium are also very poisonous in addition to radioactivity.
We do not know the reasons why it is necessary to keep CTBTO's measured data about radiation in Japan secret during this disaster. If anybody reads this newsletter familar with CTBTO's conditions - maybe this person could urge the publication of these radiation data.