Miyakoji area near Fukushima not safe, there are high levels of radiation in the air

Miyakoji area near Fukushima not safe, there are high levels of radiation in the air – epidemiologist

This is either the first or the second worst atomic disaster in history. Maybe it is the first or second worst environmental disaster in history. This is not a small leak. So, we should be very cautious in allowing people to return to an area so close to these huge amounts of radiation.

http://voiceofrussia.com/2014_04_02/Miyakoji-area-near-Fukushima-not-safe-there-are-high-levels-of-radiation-in-the-air-epidemiologist-0452/

Residents of a small district around 12 miles from the Fukushima plant are allowed to return home – for the first time since the nuclear disaster that took place more than three years ago. The decision, which took effect on Tuesday, applies to 357 people in 117 households from a district of Tamura city after the government determined that radiation levels are low enough for habitation. The Miyakoji area of the north-eastern city of Tamura has been a no-go zone for most residents since March 2011.

The government ordered evacuation after a devastating earthquake and tsunami caused a triple meltdown at the Fukushima plant. But many of the evacuees are still undecided about going back because of fears about radiation levels, and especially its effect on children. The Voice of Russia talked to Joseph Mangano, epidemiologist, and Executive Director of Radiation and Public Health Project research group.

From the point of view of an epidimiologist, how safe is the Miyakoji area?

It is not safe. First of all, any level of radiation has a health risk, has a safety risk to it but especially in an area that is only 20 km away from Fukushima, that is very close, we know that there are high levels of radiation in the air, in the water and in the food. And anybody who returns will be breathing and drinking and eating this radiation which creates a health hazard and a special hazard for certain groups such as unborn babies, young children and pregnant women.

I was talking to Ryugo Hayano, Professor of Physics at the University of Tokyo. He says that the level of radiation right now in this area is somewhere from 1.5 to 2.5 millisieverts. And he says that this is a safe level of radiation. You disagree with that.

I definitely disagree, and not only do I disagree but the blue-ribbon panel called the BEIR committee, on exposure of levels of ionizing radiation, disagrees. They have put out 7 reports in the last 40 years and everyone of them concludes based on hundreds of scientific studies that all levels of radiation are harmful. The higher the radiation, the higher the risk but there is no safe level. That is like saying if you smoked 4 or 5 cigarettes a day, that would be not harmful. It is only a few. First of all, you have to do the studies.

These people are not doing any health studies, and number two, these studies are going to show there is some risk because tobacco is not safe and radiation is not safe, and especially in a case like this. This is either the first or the second worst atomic disaster in history. Maybe it is the first or second worst environmental disaster in history. This is not a small leak. So, we should be very cautious in allowing people to return to an area so close to these huge amounts of radiation.

What do you suggest Tokyo should do?

The government should, especially the government health officials, should do much better job in monitoring the levels of radiation in air, in all the diets, and they should be extra-vigilant in making sure that nobody lives close to the plant like this, 20 km away. That is what a health department does, it protects people.

Why do you think they are doing the exact opposite right now providing incentives for people to actually come back to that zone?

They are doing it for reasons other than health reasons, I can tell you that. Any good health official, any good health department is going to be cautious especially when you had such a massive meltdown with such high radiation which by the way is not over. Unlike even Chernobyl which was over in just a few weeks and months, 3 years later radiation is still being released from Fukushima, every single day, large amounts are going into the air and into the Pacific Ocean. So, it is not the time to be telling people to return to areas so close to this terrible disaster.