nuclear-news

Mainichi Interview: “The reactors still continue to release radioactive materials” — “The gov’t needs to recognize the gravity of this situation”

http://enenews.com/mainichi-interview-the-reactors-still-continue-to-release-radioactive-materials-the-govt-needs-to-recognize-the-gravity-of-this-situation

Published: August 19th, 2012 at 5:27 pm ET
By ENENews

Title: Do not underestimate the severity of the Fukushima nuclear crisis: interview
Source: Mainichi
Date: Aug 9, 2012

“..Before her retirement in 2000 from the University of Bremen in Germany, Inge Schmitz-Feuerhake had been an experimental physicist who some 30 years ago had analyzed data on nuclear bomb survivors

[…]

Mainichi: How would you evaluate the way the Japanese government has handled the crisis?

Schmitz-Feuerhake: I praise the government for designating the area within a 20-kilometer radius from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant as a no-entry zone. That it set annual radiation levels of 20 millisieverts as a standard for evacuation is understandable for a government that was unprepared for a large-scale nuclear disaster. But it’s being grossly irresponsible by reactivating nuclear reactors and trying to shift the public’s attention towards “recovery.”….”

“..

Using the average incidence and death rate from cancer and other illnesses among all Japanese, I went to figure out the relative risks of those who entered the cities after the bombings and those who experienced the bomb at least 2.5 kilometers away from the hypocenter. What I found was that the death rate from leukemia and respiratory and gastrointestinal cancers was above the national average, and that the incidence of thyroid cancer, leukemia, and breast cancer among women were 1.5 times to 4.1 times higher.

These results showed that internal exposure to radiation from radioactive fallout (including “black rain” and “ashes of death”) had a great impact on health. But because my findings went against common academic knowledge at the time, my paper was initially rejected when I submitted it for publication in an international medical journal. On the suggestion of the journal, I subsequently had it published in the journal in the form of a “letter to the editor” instead of a scientific paper….”

“….

Mainichi: What do you think of the claim made after the outbreak of the Fukushima nuclear crisis by Japanese politicians and some experts that “radiation exposure of 100 millisieverts or less has little effect on health?”

Schmitz-Feuerhake: It’s a statement that completely ignores the medical knowledge that we have accumulated thus far. Cancer among people who have been exposed to less than 100 millisieverts of radiation has been reported in medical journals and elsewhere. Radiation promotes cell mutation, and no amount of exposure is safe. It’s necessary to take precautions and institute measures to reduce radiation exposure……”

August 20, 2012 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized