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Cesium Release From Fukushima Plant Compared to 168 Hiroshimas
Japanese government specialists project that the quantity of
radioactive cesium 137 emitted to date from the crippled the
Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant equates to 168 times the
amount of material released in the 1945 atomic bombing of
Hiroshima, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Aug. 24).
Citing the work of nuclear experts, the Tokyo Shimbun reported
the quantity of cesium that escaped the Japanese facility
following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami was projected to
be 15,000 terabecquerels. In comparison, only 89 terabecquerels
were emitted by the detonation of the U.S. weapon dropped over
over Hiroshima near the end of World War II, according to the
newspaper.  The Kan administration provided the cesium
projection to Japanese lawmakers.  The government, however,
contends it is not appropriate to compare the two nuclear
disasters.  "An atomic bomb is designed to enab