Remember this the next time someone spruiks about the nuclear disaster in Japan and how we the world are on the brink of some nuclear catastrophe The United Nations’ nuclear safety body concluded a “most important health impact” of the Fukushima emergency was not the radiation but the fear-mongering: The major UN report on the health impacts of the Fukushima accident concluded that any radiation-induced effects would be too small to identify. People were well protected and received “low or very low” radiation doses. The latest report on the accident comes from the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) ... Overall, people in Fukushima are expected on average to receive less than 10 mSv due to the accident over their whole lifetime, said UNSCEAR, comparing this to the 170 mSv lifetime dose from natural background radiation that people in Japan typically receive. Health issues from radiation only become apparent in people known to have received 100 mSv or more in a short space of time. This criteria does apply to a group of 160 plant workers, who are to be monitored in the long term. Despite the evacuation’s success in minimizing radiation exposure to a level where, ”No discernible increased incidence of radiation-related health effects are expected among exposed members of the public or their descendants,” the mass movement of people had repercussions of its own, including the deaths of some vulnerable people and social effects of the relocation. UNSCEAR said, “The most important health effect is on mental and social well-being, related to the enormous impact of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident, and the fear and stigma related to the perceived risk of exposure to radiation.” Zsuzsa Barta Kerry McBainCatherine Varga
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 04:10:12 +0000
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