Government panel eyes higher interim radiation exposure limit - 6th Oct 2011

A government panel on reviewing radiation dose standards plans to propose that the government adopt an interim annual radiation exposure limit between 1 to 20 millisieverts for ordinary people instead of the current 1 millisievert limit, panel sources said Wednesday.

The recommendation by a group under the panel, headed by Otsura Niwa, a professor emeritus at Kyoto University, would be employed when the government reviews provisional radiation limits for food products and soil, many of which were hurriedly set after the start of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

However, the plan to raise the annual radiation exposure limit for ordinary people could be criticized for endangering health, potentially affecting the subsequent review process, observers said.

The group has apparently determined it is difficult at present to maintain the 1 millisievert limit. Read More