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

[Perle, Sandy]

Hello Enrico,

I appreciate your perspectives below.

>Are you hinting that the Japanese agencies were essentially lying, like
>the the German journalist said?

No, I am not suggesting that they outwardly lied. I think there are
probably cases where they simply did not address all of the issues and
were not forthcoming with details, waiting until the information got out
through investigative individuals. This is the opinion of my Japanese
colleagues.

>Who knows the full truth, knows all the detailed information in such a
>catastrophic situation? When communication channels are locally
>destroyed or have failed?

I agree that during a crisis good information is hard to come by. This was
evident during TMI as well as other catastrophes. Sometimes the rush to
get information out leads to misleading information. However, one expects
that when the information is updated, that they would make sure the
message  got out to the public, where the public needed this
information.In emergency response it is a necessity to have a central
information center where one message and one that is consistent, of one
voice, goes out, to minimize mis-information.


>What is candid? How much information does the public need? Especially
>when it does not understand the data, does not know how to interpret
>them, nor understands radiation effects.

This is always a tough issue. However, there was data being put out that
contradicted actual measurements. That led to much of the mistrust of both
the government and the utility.


>The more information you provide, the more information will be requested
>and the population is swamped with what is for them contradictory, foggy
>and neuron saturating.  Then you have a number of ignorant journalists
>who scare the shit out of people just to sell their news. In the media
>lies are often sexier and more easily read and believed than "the truth".

Can't argue with that. It;s a fine line, but when it comes to the public
health, the public needs to be aware of what the situation is, what effect
the situation might have on their families and what actions they should
take to minimize these effects.

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/


>


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