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Health uncertainties torment residents in Fukushima

37 Comments
By Yuri Kageyama

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37 Comments
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How terrible to become a "test case...for long-term exposure to low dose radiation". Those kids should be taken out of danger no matter how inconvenient or costly the procedure.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Move out of there. There is no reason to stay there.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

You may want Prussian Blue, but the Japanese government has decided, in its infinite wisdom and concern for the welfare of the people, that you cannot have it.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

"This is life with radiation, "

No, this is life with stupidity. The result of all this ill-informed hysteria in the media... are the perpetrators proud yet?

-1 ( +7 / -8 )

"Below 100, experts can’t say for sure whether it’s safe, just that a link to cancer can’t be proven."

This comment is misleading. It isn't that a link to cancer cannot be proven. Nobody knows whether a link can be proven or not. A link to cancer has not yet been proven to the satisfaction of pro-nuclear scientists and nearly all of the research is conducted by pro-nuclear scientists or at least by scientists who have been trained in academic programs largely funded by pro-nuclear interests. Scientists graduate with slanted perspectives on nuclear power and only some of them are later able to achieve objective positions. The foundation for research on low level exposure is extremely flawed data, nothing more than estimations, on the Japanese nuclear bomb victims gathered years after the fact. The Soviet Union's government wisely evacuated people from areas of low level exposure but thereafter had no interest in actually finding problems with low level exposure because it intended to continue using nuclear power unabated. The only other entities regularly collecting data on low level exposure are nuclear power companies themselves, who have no interest in finding problems with low level exposure.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I should add that the Japanese government has officially recognised occupational exposure as causing disease in some cases at levels below 100. So the Japanese government obviously believes that exposures below 100 are potentially dangerous, despite Yamashita's inane blathering. He should be checked into a mental hospital.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Difficult situation indeed guys when your life is held at ransom!! But then TEPCO/government should pay these people heavily for being guinea pigs on the long time exposure experiment thing! The paradox is that Japanese have the longest life spans on the planet, even after the hiroshima and nagasaki atomic bombing!!! Therefore, i suggest the people leading the experiment should observe both the negative and positive effects of low dose nuclear radiation. They should focus more to the changes on the DNA. This experiment should also extend to plants as well because the last time i checked, plants in the exclusion zone seemed healthier than those outside....they are really tempting!!! I nearly picked a few leaves for lunch!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Some experts say the risks are quite low outside the 20-kilometer no-go zone, and people can take steps to protect themselves, such as limiting intake of locally grown food, not lingering in radiation “hot spots” such as around gutters and foliage, and periodically living outside the area

That is not living! That is terrible! The government needs to relocate these people somewhere else and buy all their land from them.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

To those people here who think that the radiation levels there are safe and there's no need to worry, then please try to live there with your family and eat food grown from there. And tell us about it. Living with radiation 20 times higher than before is not safe, Why Because that's the not natura level that their bodies are used to. Unfortunately, they are allowed to stay there because TEPCO has LAWYERS who says so, therefore the gov't can just argue. I think you've read the news about the legal battle against TEPCO and a golf organization.

If the there was an increase of natural radiation, then they can stay there, but if the radiation comes from cesium and other particles, I think that's a big problem, don't you think?

2 ( +3 / -1 )

WilliB,

Thanks you! There is still ZERO proof that anyone has had a died from radiation of Fukushima plant. There is not a reason to fear, but media time and again tries to create fear,because of political motivations. Every thing is fine! There is no reason to fear and there have no (ZERO) health risk!

Omicron,

To those people here who think that the radiation levels there are safe and there's no need to worry, then please try to live there with your family and eat food grown from there.

No way! Are you think I'm crazy?!?

-8 ( +2 / -9 )

She’s so worried that she has broken out in hives.

This will be the biggest killer.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Thanks you! There is still ZERO proof that anyone has had a died from radiation of Fukushima plant.

Give it time. Cancer just doesn't spring up overnight and kill the next day.

And people may not have died from radiation but others have starved to death, killed themselves and are going into depression because of it all. Don't make light of such a horrific situation. As for the people living there and complaining, for god's sake leave! Communities are taking people in and helping them.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Even if the experts say it's"safe" to live there. But the paranoia and uncertainty are the few factors killing those people and for crying out loud they don't have to stay there if the are not comfortable in the first place. I really don't like the gaman culture here, it is sometimes too much and illogical. Living there is like living in a zombie land, the zombies might not kill you, but the fear from them might. People, you don't need to live there. Just think why those kids have to carry dosimeters in the first place. They have to wear long sleeves, a cap ,a mask and can't play outside without testing the ground for radiation first? Common! Go to a place where you are comfortable and free from worries about radiation and the memories of the disaster. You can always start a new life somewhere, It's not easy but it's possible.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Editors,

All most residents know is that their bodies are contaminated. What the numbers mean is unanswered.

It's either Most residents or All most all residents but never All most residents

2 ( +3 / -1 )

All most residents know is that their bodies are contaminated.

Substitute they for most residents and it's clearer that the sentence is grammatically sound; All they know is that their bodies are contaminated. (= They don't know anything except that their bodies are contaminated.) All is the object of an inverted sentence; you're trying to make Almost (not all most) all residents the subject, but then you have two verbs, know and is.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The debate about this has been twisted. Where or what country would even debate the outcome of exposure to these unnatural man made radiated isotopes. It's bizare to say the least. The choise of staying or going, it's a no brainer. But the N-industry have Weseled their way into the debate with seeds of disention. It's a brighter future for N energy? How can that be said when thousands of people are uncertain of the future due to that industry? One shake and Fukashima will discharge the biggest dirty bomb in history...that is a bright future? Denial and coverups, these people have been written off officially.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"health adviser for Fukushima Prefecture, Shunichi Yamashita, repeatedly said exposure to 100 millisieverts of radiation a year was safe. “The government spokesman keeps saying there are no IMMEDIATE health effects

Another Amoeba chosen by the government to cover up the truth. He is a shame to Japanese. I am sure he will bite anything the government will tell him to say. Immediate effect your ass.

Toshiso Kosako, this is a man with "delicadeza" who stepped down protesting.

The Fear of radiation exposure will never leave the people living in Fukushima no matter how the government officials assure them.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It comes down to risk tolerance! We all know the risk of health issues will increase with the kind of exposure people near the plant are living with. Some people can accept these risks without worry, other can't. The people who can't ought to consider setting up life elsewhere for peace of mind! Disease is made up of two words... DIS EASE... and that is exactly what will come to pass for the folks who decide to continue living in this area with such heavy doses of fear and anxiety!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

she warns her daughters: Never have children.

What a shattering conclusion to have to come to.

My advice - Mooooooooooove!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

20 is the new 1

The people should not be left to live in such atrocious circumstances, way past time the j govt stepped in/up and got women and children out of there.

Ok for plant workers maybe but the innocent didn't sign up for this.

Really wonder if Kanagawa is even a safe place for my teenage son too let alone anywhere close to nukushima.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

j4p4nFTW

Thanks you! There is still ZERO proof that anyone has had a died from radiation of Fukushima plant. There is not a reason to fear, but media time and again tries to create fear,because of political motivations. Every thing is fine! There is no reason to fear and there have no (ZERO) health risk!

Defintely works for the govt as a propaganda machine, has no thought process just types what is programed.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

warnerbro:

" The Soviet Union's government wisely evacuated people from areas of low level exposure "

Fact: A number of old residents actually returned to their homes right next to Chernobyl, in the middle of the evacuation zone, and are doing just fine. As is the teeming wildlife in the area.

Yes, one can expect a statistical increase in cancer from radiation levels that are higher than the natural background radiation (and the natural background radiation itself varies widely), but that is simply statistics and says nothing about the individual.

Fact: We live in a radiation environment and have done so since life on the planet evolved. The idea that radioactivity is purely man-made is a fairy tale.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Editors,

Re: my previous comment:

Oops. My mistake.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

zichi:

" The level of radiation in a man made atomic fuel rod is not found in nature "

...and nobody is living in a man made atomic fuel rod. The levels of radiation found in the towns in Fukushima is vastly less than the natural radiation in some places in Iran, India, and Brazil. Google for it.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Too much paranoia. Doen't japanese have researches, universities, politicians? Where are them?

Japan is so weak these days, where is all that strenght the world saw after the end of second world war? Big shame.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

zichi has the info, FernandoUchiyama has the spirit ...they should be in charge, (seriously).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Like the rest of the world we take our hats off to you and honor the amazign recovery that you have made in the past year. You have earned the respect of all mankind

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The Japanese psych had always been being disciplined to follow the dictates of whoever is in authority for generations and breaking out of this mold seems to be the hardest thing any individual Japanese can do. That's why you don't see any riots in the streets and even in the face of a real threat by an invisible enemy, their subservience and blind loyalty is still pervasive. For the sake of your children though... RISE UP, dislodge those powers and if need be... replace them with whatever means necessary!!! Think and act for yourselves!!!

All we can do from outside is pray for your safety and hope for an international effort in technology to clean up the Fukushima source of radiation happens soon.....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I think many of the people that continue to live in these contaminated areas would have moved far away except for the fact that they feel economically trapped.. Imagine for a moment being in the same circumstance..lost employment,lost business,lost home, or a home that you can not sell because no one will buy in these areas.. I am sure that many stay out of desperation...TEPCO and the Japanese Government Should be doing more to help those that have had there lives destroyed...Instead these two joined at the hip entities are playing down the peoples concerns and fears,hoping somehow that people will except their fate and live with the radiation...It seems TEPCO and the J government are not concerned nor are they willing to accept that this situation is not going to improve for decades..Any area above the excepted level of radiation in Tokyo should be evacuated...Should not the standard apply to all? It is very apparent that those in charge are not willing to relocate their families into the areas which are being deemed as safe... The idea that a government would deceive its own people during such a desperate time is disgusting .

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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