The government ordered the Meteorological Agency on Monday to disclose its projections on how radioactive emissions will spread from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station after it was found to be withholding U.N. data from the public since the crisis began.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said he told the agency it "should have made the data public" sooner, along with an adequate explanation. He said the agency refused to release the data because it was a part of reference materials compiled in response to a request from the International Atomic Energy Agency. It feared releasing the data could cause public misunderstanding about radiation threats.
The agency conducted a simulation based on a certain level of radioactive release from the Fukushima plant to gauge how the materials would spread based on weather conditions in the plant's vicinity, Edano said. The projection showed that the potential spread of radioactive materials per 100 sq. km, Edano said.