A week later, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, crippled by the tsunami, released a cloud of radiation that impacted neighboring prefectures and triggered a mass evacuation. The plant is still leaking.
But the real health and environmental impacts from the Fukushima reactors are nothing compared to the tsunami. Contrary to all the hype and fear, Fukushima is basically a large Superfund site. No one will die from Fukushima radiation, there will be no increased cancer rates, the food supply is not contaminated, the ocean nearby is not contaminated, most of the people can move back into their homes, and most of the other nuclear plants in Japan can start up just fine.
In fact, some Superfund sites in the United States have caused more health effects and environmental damage than the crippled Japanese reactors ever will.
But no Superfund site will ever have as much money spent on it as will Fukushima.
The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that
struck Japan in March of 2011 was a disaster of epic proportions – over
20,000 died, over 300,000 left homeless, a blow to the country’s
economic and infrastructure unlike anything in the last 40 years. But
the crippling of the Fukushima nuclear plants wasn’t the disastrous
part. Source: Google Maps
Years after those nuclear reactors withstood one of the largest earthquakes in history, only to fall to the largest tsunami in history, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) made a very strong and important statement concerning radiation effects from the Fukushima disaster (UNSCEAR press release; NYTimes DotEarth):
“It is unlikely to be able to attribute any health effects in the future among the general public and the vast majority of workers from exposure to radiation following the leaks and explosions at the earthquake-damaged power plant in March of 2011.”
But there was still a flurry of debate several days ago on the 4th anniversary of the accident, with many outrageous claims on all sides (HuffPost; NBC; Al Jazeera; HiroshimaSyndrome). However, as the Breakthrough Institute points out, the most important thing to take away from the last four years is what did not happen – and never will:
- Fukushima children have no more thyroid cancer rates than any other regions in Japan, and are actually lower than many.
The one thing the Japanese government did right was tell everyone to not eat anything from the area for a few months while radioactive iodine died away completely. New ultrasound diagnostic techniques found more thyroid nodules and cysts in all Japanese (these were already in the population), but the numbers for Fukushima children were actually lower than the rest of Japan (NIH; NYTimes; UN Report; Nuclear News; J. of Am. Phys. and Surg.; CBCnews; Hiroshima Syndrome; National Geographic; Asahi Shimbun). Unfortunately, some very unethical and greedy people knowingly reported the wrong data sets and claimed that thyroid cancers have exploded in Japan and Japanese children are dying by the thousands (Business Insider; Eco Child’s Play).
- Food from Fukushima is safe to eat, even the seafood.
Fukushima’s home cooked meals have no detectible radioactive cesium. Three of the prefecture’s food cooperatives tested two days-worth of meals from 100 households, and none had detectable radiation from Fukushima (MINPO). The fishing stocks off the Japanese coast are not contaminated (NAR).
- Radiation in most of the Evacuation Zone around Fukushima is low enough for people to move back.
Except for a relatively small region around the reactors, the risk of evacuees moving back to their homes are the same as driving a car (UNSCEAR). Yes, driving can be dangerous, but it is not a reason to live as a refugee for the rest of one’s life. On the other hand, the forced relocations of people in the evacuation zone is what caused all of the deaths and hardship that these people suffered in the aftermath of the reactor accident. But even with the fear and gross misrepresentations, about a third of the people from Fukushima want to return to their homes. About a third don’t want to and about a third are undecided (MINPO News).
- None of the crewmembers from the USS Reagan stationed at Fukushima have cancer rates or other ailments that are any different than the rest of the Navy.
A Pentagon study found mildly elevated levels of stress disorders, but radiation effects such as cancer were actually lower on the USS Reagan than most other ships. Which is reasonable since the total cumulative dose during the entire mission was only 0.08 mSv, way too low to cause any health effects (DTRA). But some unethical lawyers might make some real money.
- There is no, and never will be, a Fukushima Death Toll. No one received enough radiation to change the background cancer rates that normally exist in Japan.
For the general population in Fukushima prefecture, across Japan and beyond, the World Health Organization said, “the predicted risks are low and no observable increases in cancer rates above baseline rates are anticipated“. The Fukushima disaster doesn’t even rate on the scale of common radiation hazards. The EPA estimates that the radiation from natural radon gas in our homes results in over 20,000 cancer fatalities in the United States every year, although this number is based on the LNT model just like all predictions. This radon effect is equivalent to five times the total radiation released from Fukushima every year, with no outcry from those who cry out against radiation effects.
I know the lack of death and destruction is boring to some, and doesn’t fit into the evil picture painted by zealots against anything nuclear. But the amount of radiation released from Fukushima, while sounding big, was too small when spread out over so many miles to have much discernable effect on the Japanese people, now or in the future.
Or anyone else, anywhere.
But the stoking of fear and misrepresentation, the botched response and forced evacuations, the ridiculous limits on low levels of radiation, the closing of all nuclear plants and the increase of coal- oil- and gas-fired electricity, and the politicization of the tragedy – these have huge and lasting effects.
Yes, the Fukushima site is a mess. It will cost billions to clean up. It was completely avoidable but Japan did not have a working regulatory commission or the safety guidelines that are in place in America. And they ignored our repeated warnings.
But as to death and destruction, the Fukushima accident shows that nuclear power plant disasters are not very disastrous.
