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Activists fault WHO report on Fukushima radiation

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For one, she said, WHO did not take actual radioactive emissions into account, relying on estimates.

The UN health body also did not examine the effects on children comprehensively, including what the impact would be of eating radiation-contaminated food over a lifetime.

No, WHO didn't take into account the expected levels, they took into account several times more than the scientific consensus.

Caldicott cited one survey done by a Fukushima medical organization that showed 42% of 100,000 children sustained thyroid abnormalities, such as a cyst or a nodule. The survey showed three children with thyroid cancer and seven additional cases of suspected cancer.

I think we can state as fact that this activist is not a professional anything, let alone medical professional. The report, to which I have linked a dozen times, shows 0.57% abnormalities, well within expected values for non-exposed children.

-12 ( +6 / -18 )

the Helen Caldicott Foundation, co-sponsored the symposium, along with Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Two organizations she founded, run, and have done absolutely no research into anything.

“It’s a report that was meant to reassure people who, almost certainly, many will develop leukemia and cancer,” said Helen Caldicott,

Well, with 40% of people getting cancer and 25% dying from it on a regular basis, she's either downplaying the risk of natural cancer or simply trying to sell more books to people who do the same.

This is like reporting on greenpeace, basically shows it's a slow news day because of course activists are going to be against something, and do so by twisting the words of researchers everywhere... or even making things up like this unprofessional activist is doing.

-10 ( +6 / -17 )

As a physician, she abhors what they've done? Based on what? I don't recall her coming here and measuring anything. You can't hide radiation! If it's here, it's detectable!

A whole anti-nuclear industry NEEDS Fukushima to be the horror of the last two centuries, even if they have to make it themselves.

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

Jesus Christ, why would they even think that the WHO has reason to lie?

-3 ( +5 / -8 )

Helen Caldicott, a prominent anti-nuclear activist

I wonder if she will be biased or not?

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Dr Helen Caldicott has been to Japan on several occasions. She was also one of the key players in preventing Osaka city from starting the incineration of radioactive debris. She bases a lot of her work on the effects that Chernobyl has had on the Russian population.Those genetic abnormalities are well shown on various websites but I would advise viewing on an empty stomach. Basroil what is 'natural cancer'? If you knew the answer then you'd be getting the Nobel Prize for medicine instead of posting on this site 24/7. The damaged plants are still spewing toxicity into the environment - nobody can assesses what the health risks are as there is no way to know what has been released into the environment to date....

9 ( +13 / -4 )

She was also one of the key players in preventing Osaka city from starting the incineration of radioactive debris.

So she doesn't really understand the situation then does she?

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

And Basroil it is Dr Helen Caldicott-you really don't read the articles do you....it might help if you did eh?

7 ( +12 / -5 )

Basroil: I would appreciate your analysis of:

Steven Starr, a program director at the University of Missouri, presented data from Chernobyl that showed, 14 years later, that 40 percent of high school graduates suffered chronic blood disorders and malfunctioning thyroids.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

uzneko:

Unless you are sarcastic, the WHO is a UN organization, which is below the IAEA, an agency. Moreover the WHO signed an agreement with the IAEA to shut up on any nuclear sanitary topics. So basically the WHO can only agree and publish IAEA position.

The ugliness of that is that the IAEA is using the WHO to give credit to all nuke assumptions, program, ...

10 ( +12 / -2 )

After 15years nobody can blameTepco for any kind of cancer. You get it you die with it. So simple. I saw it in my family after Tchernobil. Did you know that your beloved WHO is depending on IAEA. Go check it your self. http://www.llrc.org/health/subtopic/iaeawhoagreement.htm You are all naive if you believe WHO.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Dr Helen Caldicott is worth listening to.

She has a history of cutting through the smokescreen and exposing the truth.

There is an article that appeared in the Guardian that anybody living in or visiting the Tohoku area needs to read:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/11/nuclear-apologists-radiation

6 ( +9 / -3 )

As I said, you can't hide it....if it's here, they can measure it.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Approx. 36-40% (depending on the article read) of Fukushima children now have abnormal thyroid growths. 36-40%!!! And these tests were conducted on sample groups numbering over 10,000 kids! You pro-nuclear posters can call it whatever you like, this is general news from several news sources. (Don't believe me? Google keywords thyroid, children, Fukushima, radiation) I find it highly unlikely that all of those sources are biased and lying about the findings. I can, however, believe that the WHO, an agency of the UN, which is under the IAEA, could be skewing the truth about the real radioactive risks present in Fukushima. You still want to support nuclear power? Please, be my guest and move closer to those Daiichi plants. Let us all know how you feel in 5 years.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

The World Health Organisation is AFRAID of Chernobyl and Fukushima Children: http://mondediplo.com/2008/04/14who

And I know my stuff. I adressed Dr. Maria Neira of WHO -> Director, Public Health and the Environment Department, personally face to face on April 26th 2011! She denied the contract with IAEA! Doesn't she want to know? Shame on WHO!

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kurisupisuMar. 12, 2013 - 08:35PM JST

. Basroil what is 'natural cancer'? If you knew the answer then you'd be getting the Nobel Prize for medicine instead of posting on this site 24/7.

40% of people will get cancer regardless of fukushima, it's natural simply by the way our bodies work. (well, actually about 30% if you take out smoking, which is not natural, but also not fukushima related). Guess you'll be seeing me in Sweden?

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MagnetMar. 12, 2013 - 10:08PM JST

Approx. 36-40% (depending on the article read) of Fukushima children now have abnormal thyroid growths. 36-40%!!! And these tests were conducted on sample groups numbering over 10,000 kids!

Whoever said that clearly didn't read the reports! http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/imu/kenkoukanri/250213siryou2.pdf You can see from the report that the number of "abnormal" (defined by >5mm for nodules, >20mm for cysts, as was the same in the 2001 report on Nagasaki and Belarus) nodules is only 0.57%, nowhere do they say it is 40% abnormal nodules.

You may also want to look at http://www.env.go.jp/press/press.php?serial=16419 , which has a comparison trial done in Nagasaki and Aomori with slightly smaller sample sizes. The number of abnormal nodules in that trial was 1%, which is higher than the fukushima case.

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@bertie

Dr Helen Caldicott is worth listening to.

But, as mentioned in the article

Helen Caldicott, a prominent anti-nuclear activist

The audience of people wanting to hear her is limited. She isn't interested in balance, just in removing nuclear power.

-6 ( +3 / -9 )

Fukushima, original release : 370,000 terabecquerels* (as of 12 April)

Chernobyl: 5.2 million terabecquerels*

Area affected

Fukushima: Officials say areas extending more than 60km (36 miles) to the north-west of the plant and about 40km to the south-southwest have seen radiation levels exceed annual limits

Chernobyl: Contamination of an area as far as 500 km (300 miles) from the plant, according to the UN. But animals and plants were also affected much further away.

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

HimajinMar. 12, 2013 - 11:34PM JST

Fukushima, original release : 370,000 terabecquerels* (as of 12 April)

Chernobyl: 5.2 million terabecquerels*

Chernobyl is also an "original release", and actually 1700PBq of iodine and 85PBq of Cs137. Fukushima is 150PBq iodine and up to 12PBq Cs137 (both highest of the range of numbers from non-activist sources). The rest for both is mostly from xenon, which goes into the upper atmosphere quickly and does not pose short or long term hazards.

Fukushima: Officials say areas extending more than 60km (36 miles) to the north-west of the plant and about 40km to the south-southwest have seen radiation levels exceed annual limits

Chernobyl: Contamination of an area as far as 500 km (300 miles) from the plant, according to the UN. But animals and plants were also affected much further away.

Well, Chernobyl also had a 10 ton explosion (that made the fukushima ones look like pop-rocks) and raging core fire hot enough to send ash far from the initial source. Fukushima had no such fire and released materials spread far less, much like Kyshtym (though Kyshtym had 100ton blast, with the blast being less of an issue than the fire).

Speaking of Kyshtym, you forgot to mention the 800PBq released in the explosion, with a far higher concentration of caesium than either of the other two. That one's only listed as Level 5 despite releasing more radioisotopes into the air than Fukushima.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

that made the fukushima ones look like pop-rocks

Pop-rocks sometimes are classified at 7 on the nuclear accident scale. Even though admitted only months after the fact. Some may need decades to admit it!

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How hard is it really...if you are worried about radiation as an individual ...leave If you have family kids and you're worried about radiation or not...you're call as a parent If you want to bang on, on this forum about radiation...understood but make a call leave or stay... Really that hard?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Open MindedMar. 13, 2013 - 12:22AM JST

Pop-rocks sometimes are classified at 7 on the nuclear accident scale. Even though admitted only months after the fact. Some may need decades to admit it!

CO2 releases (poprocks), Hydrogen/steam explosions (fukushima) and fertilizer bombs (Kyshtym) aren't classified by some random scale like that, they are classified in TNT equivalent.

As for the INES scale, scientists and engineers have been trying to get something better put in, since the current scale makes no sense and application is arbitrary. For example, a truck carrying medical grade cobalt 60 crashes in Tokyo and releases enough radiation to cause radiation sickness in a half dozen people and it would be a level 4, and very likely even level 5. On the other hand, several tons of steel beams for use in construction have 72microSv/hr levels of radiation and are used in construction of a building on a river, but that wouldn't even be given an INES level despite fitting all the requirements to be a level 5-6.

The only reason why Fukushima is called a level 7 is because the japanese government said so, all actual evidence points to level 6 at most, with less health impact than Kyshtym, smaller affected area, and lower release of radiation (especially when adding in the 4000PBq they had dumped prior to the incident).

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

@uzneko: Are you asking a question directed at the Lord Jesus Christ, or merely using His Name as an expletive? Perhaps I can answer your question., anyway. Governments lie, politicians of all shades lie, groups and organisations and individuals lie. Pay or bribe people enough and they will lie through their teeth. Of course, the WHO is capable of lying. Its made up of human beings, whose nature it is to be untruthful at times. We are all the same. I agree completely with the lady who is mentioned in the report above, and her supporters. Are you really surprised that there have been lies concerning the Fukushima Daiichi disaster? I lived through it, I personally have had radiation induced sickness, and I have met people in Fukushima who are suffering from radiation related illnesses. There are Todai professors who can tell you, with great passion, that the problems at Fukushima are many times worse than Chernobyl. Wait and see what untold horrors will come to Japan in the future, because TEPCO and the government have been lying constantly, and playing down the problems. They did that from Day 1. Ordinary people can be very gullible,especially in Japan, If a university professor or a Government Official or a Scientist says it, it must be true, is the general attitude.Remember Climategate? Scientists lied and manipulated data for political and economic motives, to spread the lie of Anthropogenic Global Warming. For whatever reason, the WHO (linked to the UN, so we need say no more, if that organisation is involved) has not told the truth about Fukushima. Truth will always prevail and will come out in the end, though, we can be sure of that.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Truth will always prevail and will come out in the end, though, we can be sure of that.

The problem is, that the truth seems to be out there, just no one wants to believe it!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Chernobyl is also an "original release"

Meaning it didn't include totals to date.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"Of course, the WHO is capable of lying. Its made up of human beings, whose nature it is to be untruthful at times. We are all the same. I agree completely with the lady who is mentioned in the report above, and her supporters. "

They are incapable of lying? They could be the liars...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

All those who say it is not a problem, should move to there then.

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I think we can state as fact that this activist is not a professional anything, let alone medical professional.

According to this news article, please explain how Dr. Helen Caldicott is "not a professional anything, let alone medical professional."

-1 ( +5 / -6 )

All those who say it is not a problem, should move to there then

Sigh. Saying that anti-nuclear activists have an agenda and lie and/or exaggerate as much as anyone else with money and an agenda at stake is not saying people should move into the exclusion zone.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

She predicts a massive increase in cancer in Fukushima in a short four years...let's see.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Hang on a minute! These people are stating that the WHO understated the severity of the health risks, yet the J-Gov said the report over-stated the severity of the health risks? These activist physicians should be directing their protest at the J-Gov not the WHO!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

BertieWoosterMar. 12, 2013 - 09:50PM JST

Dr Helen Caldicott is worth listening to.

There is an article that appeared in the Guardian that anybody living in or visiting the Tohoku area needs to read:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/apr/11/nuclear-apologists-radiation

Thanks for your concern Bertie, but I think we're pretty safe in Tohoku. As for Dr Caldicott, it is hard to take seriously someone whose "educational" pronouncements are obviously false. From your link:

"Mr Monbiot, who is a journalist not a scientist, appears unaware of the difference between external and internal radiation

Let me educate him.

The former is what populations were exposed to when the atomic bombs were detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945; their profound and on-going medical effects are well documented. [1]

Internal radiation, on the other hand, emanates from radioactive elements which enter the body by inhalation, ingestion, or skin absorption."

She sounds very convincing, until you remember the word "nuclear fallout":

"About 15 kg of plutonium was used in the Nagasaki A-bomb, but only 1 kg was fissioned and the rest (14 kg) was released into the environment. " - Fate of Plutonium Released from the Nagasaki A-Bomb, Japan - A.Kudo et al.

"The vertical migration of 90Sr and 117Cs produced by the explosion of the atomic bomb in 1945 was investigated in an unsaturated soil layer in the Nishiyama area of Nagasaki...These results suggest that since fallout 137Cs and 90Sr have remained in the surface soil for a long period of time, we should pay significant attention to radiological effects of nuclear accidents." - Yasunori Mahara

"Unfissioned plutonium (239+240Pu) along with fission products (including 137Cs) were released from the Nagasaki A-bomb on 9 August 1945 and deposited in the eastern side (Nishiyama) of the city of Nagasaki. The concentrations of these radioactive materials were determined in 47 undisturbed surface soils collected..." - A.Kudo et al.

So Caldicott is either a liar or a fool. The people of Nagasaki were exposed to internal radiation.

However, her piece is worthwhile in that it links to George Monbiot's article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/05/anti-nuclear-lobby-misled-world

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Dennis BauerMar. 13, 2013 - 09:37AM JST

All those who say it is not a problem, should move to there then.

Is that a way of saying you are incapable of winning the argument with logic?

0 ( +2 / -2 )

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