A group of elementary school students in Koriyama, about 60 km from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant, may only be 10 years old, but they possibly know more about radiation than fourth-graders anywhere in the world.
After a year of study at Akagi Elementary School in Fukushima Prefecture, the 28 students in Tomoyuki Bannai's class can now explain the difference between alpha, beta and gamma rays. They know alpha rays are dangerous in terms of internal exposure to radiation and that gamma rays pose the biggest threat for external exposure.
"I believe my class of fourth-graders is probably the best in the world in terms of radiation education," Bannai, 43, told The Japan Times in late February.