[ RadSafe ] "mis-information from both TEPCO and the Japanese government immediately after the incident"

[Brennan, Mike (DOH)]

Hi, Jaro.  

While I wish there was more information available in the early days, I
recognize that between a broken infrastructure and a rapidly developing
situation, that wasn't realistic.  I think there are things that could
have been done in the ensuing months that would make it easier to get a
better picture, but I suspect political (both governmental and
corporate) is more the cause than technical issues.  

On the other hand, I completely agree that the fixation on the nuclear
power plants is misplaced, compared to other things that happened.  The
better part of 30,000 people died, and that is seldom, if ever,
mentioned.  I don't think I've EVER seen a number for the people
injured, though it surely is in the tens of thousands.  While there is a
HUGE amount of attention being given to "decontaminating" ground
contaminated with fallout (usually by means that do more environmental
harm than the fallout possibly could), I haven't heard almost nothing
about cleaning up the areas contaminated with all the chemicals one
might find in a town, if the town was put in a blender and the "Liquefy"
button hit.  I saw pictures of farmland coated in a sludge that clearly
killed all plant and animal life in the soil; something the fallout will
never do.  

Even worse it coverage about the coastal waters.  The soluble isotopes
released into the ocean will be diluted to background within a short
period after the releases stop.  Some isotopes will remain in the
sediment at above background for some years.  But there are TENS OF
THOUSANDS of cars in those waters, and they will be there until someone
pulls them out.  There are ships, trains, tanks of chemicals, and all
sorts of other things that will have a far greater and far longer effect
on that area than the radioactive releases will.  And at this distance,
at least, they are being ignored.  

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu
[mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Jaro Franta
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2011 2:10 PM
To: radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] "mis-information from both TEPCO and the
Japanese government immediately after the incident"

Sandy & group,

I'm a bit puzzled by the comment about "mis-information from both TEPCO
and
the Japanese government immediately after the incident".

I and my CNS colleagues (Canadian Nuclear Society) followed the
development
of the Fukushima tsunami event since the earliest days, and my
impression is
that NO OTHER nuclear incident has ever had better public information by
the
authorities -- especially given the fact that tens of thousands of lives
were lost in the disaster in neighbouring coastal areas !

I suppose its possible that if you were occupied with other things (ex.
long-distance travel) at the time, information may have been hard to
come by
?

What bugs me - to this day - is how little (i.e. "none") media attention
is
given to the much wider problem of CHEMICAL contamination that resulted
from
the tsunami disaster:

http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action;jsessionid=B9FF81
1AF2
1DA147E27FCFE7FD70238B?articleURI=info:doi/10.1289/ehp.119-a290

....can we expect the health effects of that mess to be blamed on
radiation
from Fukushima ?

 Jaro
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:07:28 -0400, Perle, Sandy <sperle at mirion.com> wrote:

> The problem is that the mis-information from both TEPCO and the
Japanese  
> government immediately after the incident, continuing on during the  
> incident and even after the incident is what causes the public alarm
and  
> gives a forum to others. Listening to the YouTube there is a lot of  
> truth as to what is being stated. The public was misled,  
> mis-information, deliberate or otherwise was the norm, so to question

> Chris regarding just his comments on Fukushima, is not as pertinent as

> one could say about other topics discussed here on Radsafe. Fukushima

> was a disaster with serious consequences and I am not confident that
we  
> have all of the facts as to what happened, what the current state is
and  
> how stable the reactors are, even today.
>
> Regards,
>
> Sandy
>
> -----------------------------------
> Sander C. Perle
> President
> Mirion Technologies
> Dosimetry Services Division
> 2652 McGaw Avenue
> Irvine, CA 92614
>
> +1 (949) 296-2306 (Office)
> +1 (949) 296-1130 (Fax)
>
> Mirion Technologies: http://www.mirion.com/
> "Protecting people, property and the environment"
>

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