Medical experts criticise UNSCEAR report for playing down consequences of Fukushima nuclear accident

Published on 3 Nov 2013

Medical experts are critical of the latest UNSCEAR report which plays down health impact of Fukushima nuclear accident

UNSCEAR (the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effect of Atomic Radiation) recently published a report titled “Sources, Effects and Risks of Ionizing Radiation” with a special focus on levels and effects of radiation exposure due to the nuclear accident after the 2011 Great East-Japan earthquake and tsunami .

The report has received criticism from medical experts who are researching on health effects of radiation. In the interview with 3Sat, Dr. Alex Rosen, a German pediatrician and member of German IPPNW (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War), harshly criticizes the playing down of radiation impact by UNSCEAR and the nuclear lobby. Professor Wolfgang Hoffmann, a German epidemiologist and radiobiologist, holds views similar to those of Dr. Alex Rosen. He assumes that those who criticize this report would be officially blamed for panic mongering and that any claims for damages and compensation could also be preempted on the basis of this report.

It seems, however, that the report did not receive unanimous support within UNSCEAR. According to Belgian journalist Marc Molitor, the Belgian delegation to UNSCEAR initially criticized the report, claiming that it is minimizing health effects of radiation after the Fukushima nuclear accident . When contacted by 3Sat, however, Dr. Vanmarcke, Chief of Belgian delegation to UNSCEAR, did not wish to talk about the issue which implicates pressure put on him and his delegation by the international nuclear lobby.

Dr. Keith Baverstock, a former researcher at WHO, also commented on the lack of independence of WHO in the research of the health impact of radiation. The existence of the mutual agreement between IAEA and WHO signed in 1959 hinders independent research of WHO on the health effects of radiation .

December 26, 2013 - Posted by arclight2011part2 | Uncategorized

4 Comments »

happy christmas roger

got this …

Having begun my medical studies in Düsseldorf, Germany in the year 2000, I’ve been a member of IPPNW for almost four years now. Starting off by myself in Düsseldorf, I eventually managed to find other students, equally keen on expanding their horizon and set up an IPPNW student group at my university, which now numbers over twenty members. After two years of organizing local and regional projects in Germany, meeting fellow students form all over the country and writing for the IPPNW student magazine I was, much to my own surprise, elected European Student Representative during the Berlin conference in 2003.

As European Student Representative, I’ve had ample opportunities to get to know the international student movement of IPPNW. While my term has only lasted for a little more than a year now, I’ve been to two European Student Congresses, the last one in Dublin. During these meetings, I’ve held talks with many students from different countries, trying to come up with ways to spread the IPPNW message and get more students involved.

The job of European Rep has been far from boring. On the one hand, it involved trying to establish networks between people working on similar projects, on the other attempting to mediate between opposing views in conflicts concerning the future of the IPPNW student movement. By talking to so many different people, I’ve learned a lot myself and have been inspired by the work of others over and over again. However, I’ve also tried to pass on some of this enthusiasm to others and have actively worked on starting new IPPNW student groups in countries like Spain, Poland, Bulgaria and Israel.

During my term, I was able to attend two international IPPNW conferences in Berlin, the conference “Culture of Peace” in 2003 and the conference “Nuclear Power and Nuclear Arms” in 2004, where I also had the opportunity to meet numerous physicians and medical students form all over the world, who’ve been involved with IPPNW. Together with Herman Spaanjard, the European Vice-President of IPPNW, I’ve come up with the European Student Recruitment Campaign, for which I’m currently trying to organize funding. These conferences have given me the opportunity to meet the physicians of IPPNW and hear their views. I’ve also come to realize that the student movement is the big hope for IPPNW and helping to shape it, a task worth the effort.

As webmaster of the new international IPPNW student website, I’ve gotten to know a lot about IPPNW, its history, the people who shape the movement, as well as current projects and campaigns. I was able to communicate and work with motivating and inspiring students from Brazil to Nepal, from Pakistan to Ireland and from Canada to Egypt and also helped the different international student projects, like the Nuclear Weapons Inheritance Project (NWIP), creating and updating their websites.

http://www.ippnw-students.org/Alex.html

Some might value his opinion based on his experience?

As for Hoffman….

Childhood Cancer in the Vicinity of German Nuclear Power Plants

Click to access 6-1-korblein.pdf

Comment by arclight2011part2 | December 26, 2013 | Reply
I am former scientific director of Soviet nuclear emergency service and I spent five years in Chernobyl after the 1986 accident. Several my co-workers developed cancers and died and I asked relatives of them to check whether hospitals sent the information about these cases to organizations which have to collect the information. The answer always was “no”.
It means that nobody is interested to study the consequences of Chernobyl accident and nobody want to pay the relevant research.
I have some ideas how to fight against such attitudes to the consequences of nuclear accidents of the world and national official structures . I also have the set of information on 82 000 of Chernobyl “liquidators” which former director of Chernobyl dosimetry control board sent me before he died from cancer in the end of 90-ies.
In case somebody is interested in this issue, contact me on iouli.andreev@chello.at.

Comment by Iouli Andreev | December 27, 2013 | Reply
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paragraph here at my home.

Comment by Jefferson | July 24, 2014 | Reply
[…] Link to UNSCEAR internal arguments https://nuclear-news.net/2013/12/26/medical-experts-criticise-unscear-report-for-playing-down-conseq… link to articles discussing UN concerns on contamination issues being downplayed […]

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