There’s massive differences between the Japan and Russian events; effectively the nuclear pile in Russia melted down into the carbon blocks, and then burned as a fire for weeks, even well after they smothered the carbon blocks with millions of pounds of concrete.
The amount of nuclear material that melted was seventeen times the total amount of nuclear material at the Japan site, all in one containment building, vs the 4 reactor buildings and 4 containment ponds.
Almost all of the nuclear release in Japan was secondary contamination - IE: water that was used in containment vs the actual fuel the plant uses. Vs Russia which was almost entirely primary contamination, the fuel itself spreading around the world.
In all, the ENTIRE radioactive release from Japan so far has not exceeded the amount of material released in ONE above ground US nuclear bomb test. Almost all of Japan’s material went into the pacific ocean, vs above ground tests in the US which entirely contaminated the ground from Nevada all the way to the eastern seaboard.
Mind, modern radiation detectors are incredibly sensitive, nearly 600,000 times as sensitive as the detectors used in the 1970s. It is easy to produce ‘shocking levels of radioactive detection.’ One small radioactive mineral sample, a common item sold in chemistry kits, would peg most of these new detectors rather than giving the scant indication of the old units.
And none of these common sense comparisons is featured anywhere in the media, because a) it isn’t scary enough. b) It doesn’t make Japan’s government and nuclear power industry look bad, and finally c) it would degrade the anti-nuclear’s holding of Japan upon their holy pedestal as the only ‘victim’ of nuclear bombs used in combat.
I have thought about what you previously stated.
Is it possible the reason they will not let the people back in their homes is not the radiation, but the potential for further discharges of material. Proximity to the site?
I understand why they are staying quiet about the status. I do not trust the Leftie anti-nuke crowd at all. They have been the most vocal on this. That and the Leftie English press.