{"id":1494,"date":"2023-10-18T22:46:51","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T22:46:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/?page_id=1494"},"modified":"2023-10-18T22:50:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T22:50:08","slug":"fukushima-fallout-worse-than-hiroshima-or-chernobyl","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/fukushima-fallout-worse-than-hiroshima-or-chernobyl\/","title":{"rendered":"Fukushima Fallout: Worse than Hiroshima or Chernobyl?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fukushima Fallout:<\/span><\/h1>\n

Worse than Hiroshima or Chernobyl?<\/span>
\nby Gordon Edwards, August 29, 2011<\/span><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

Background:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

No one has ever before experienced the extensive radioactive<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0contamination of air, water, soil, and food that now faces the Japanese people<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0after the Fukushima disaster.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

It is important to realize that each nuclear reactor contains\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0more than a thousand times as much radioactive material as<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0the radioactive fallout from a Hiroshima-type atomic bomb.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The dropping of the atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and Nagasaki in 1945 caused enormous destruction, brought\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0about by the blast and by the fireball. \u00a0It also caused massive<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0radiation exposures, mainly neutron and gamma radiation,<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0most of it delivered at the very instant of the explosion.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But the fallout in the area of the bombed cities was relatively<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0little, because in both cases the bombs were deliberately<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0detonated high in the air so that the concussive shock wave \u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0would do the most damage on the ground. \u00a0Thus no crater was\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0created by\u00a0the blast, and most of the fallout was carried high\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0into the\u00a0atmosphere by the heat of the fireball and the burning\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0of the cities. \u00a0It became global fallout more than local fallout.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At Chernobyl, there was an explosion in the core of one reactor followed by<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0a very hot graphite fire that raged for days, lofting much of<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0the radioactive fallout high into the air, and sending it across\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0vast\u00a0distances. \u00a0A lot of it was deposited in Belarus and other\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0European countries; it contaminated the sheep in Northern\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0England and Wales for two decades, and the wild boar in Germany’s Black Forest area. Some of it made its way\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0across the ocean\u00a0to contaminate the lichen in Northern\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Canada, which resulted\u00a0in measurable increases of radioactive\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0cesium in the bodies\u00a0of the Inuit people who fed on the caribou\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0that fed on the lichen.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But at Fukushima, not one but three nuclear reactors melted down<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0— Units 1, 2, and 3 — as well as a spent fuel pool in Unit 4 that<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0caught fire and spewed radioactive debris directly into the<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0atmosphere. \u00a0Because there was no fireball, no burning<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0cities, and no burning graphite, much of the radioactive fallout<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0rained out quickly and stayed closer to the ground and contaminated everything\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0that it came in contact with in large swaths of territory surrounding the plant. \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The local contamination at ground level is as extensive<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and as insidious as anything that has previously been<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0experienced. \u00a0Radioactive iodine has already done its worst,<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0though the results will not be seen for decades in terms of<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0thyroid cancers and developmental abnormalities caused by<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0thyroid damage to embryos, infants and children. \u00a0But the<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0radioactive cesium and strontium and plutonium and<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0americium and dozens of other radioactive species will<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0be in the soil and the food and the bodies of Japanese<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0living near the affected areas and even those further away<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0for decades, even centuries to come.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

No one truly knows the full long-term effects of chronic<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0exposure of such a huge population to these radioactive<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0poisons, for the degree of local radioactive contamination\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0resulting from Fukushima is indeed unprecedented.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Gordon Edwards.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Why the Fukushima disaster is worse than Chernobyl<\/h1>\n

Japan has been slow to admit the scale of the\u00a0meltdown.
\nBut now the truth is coming out.<\/h3>\n

\u00a0David McNeill, The Independent, Monday, 29 August 2011<\/em>
\nhttp:\/\/tinyurl.com\/3fka982<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Yoshio Ichida is recalling the worst day of his 53 years: 11 March, when the\u00a0\u00a0sea swallowed up his home and killed his friends. The Fukushima fisherman\u00a0\u00a0was in the bath when the huge quake hit and barely made it to the open sea\u00a0\u00a0in his boat in the 40 minutes before the 15-metre tsunami that followed.<\/p>\n

When he got back to port, his neighbourhood and nearly everything else was\u00a0gone. “Nobody can remember anything like this,” he says.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Now living in a refugee centre in the ruined coastal city of Soma, Mr Ichida\u00a0\u00a0has mourned the 100 local fishermen killed in the disaster and is trying to\u00a0\u00a0rebuild his life with his colleagues. Every morning, they arrive at the ruined\u00a0\u00a0fisheries co-operative building in Soma port and prepare for work. Then they\u00a0\u00a0stare out at the irradiated sea, and wait. “Some day we know we’ll be allowed\u00a0\u00a0to fish again. We all want to believe that.”<\/p>\n

This nation has recovered from worse natural \u2013 and manmade \u2013 catastrophes.\u00a0\u00a0But it is the triple meltdown and its aftermath at the Fukushima nuclear power\u00a0\u00a0plant 40 km down the coast from Soma that has elevated Japan into unknown,\u00a0\u00a0and unknowable, terrain. Across the northeast, millions of people are living\u00a0\u00a0with its consequences and searching for a consensus on a safe radiation level\u00a0\u00a0that does not exist. Experts give bewilderingly different assessments of its\u00a0\u00a0dangers.<\/p>\n

Some scientists say Fukushima is worse than the 1986 Chernobyl accident,\u00a0\u00a0with which it shares a maximum level-7 rating on the sliding scale of nuclear\u00a0\u00a0disasters. One of the most prominent of them is Dr Helen Caldicott, an\u00a0\u00a0Australian physician and long time anti-nuclear activist who warns of\u00a0\u00a0“horrors to come” in Fukushima.<\/p>\n

Chris Busby, a professor at the University of Ulster known for his alarmist\u00a0\u00a0views, generated controversy during a Japan visit last month when he said\u00a0\u00a0the disaster would result in more than 1 million deaths. “Fukushima is still\u00a0\u00a0boiling its radionuclides all over Japan,” he said. “Chernobyl went up in one\u00a0\u00a0go. So Fukushima is worse.”<\/p>\n

On the other side of the nuclear fence are the industry friendly scientists\u00a0\u00a0who insist that the crisis is under control and radiation levels are mostly\u00a0\u00a0safe. “I believe the government and Tokyo Electric Power [Tepco, the\u00a0\u00a0plant’s operator] are doing their best,” said Naoto Sekimura, vice-dean of\u00a0\u00a0the Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo.<\/p>\n

Mr Sekimura initially advised residents near the plant that a radioactive\u00a0\u00a0disaster was “unlikely” and that they should stay “calm”, an assessment\u00a0\u00a0he has since had to reverse.<\/p>\n

Slowly, steadily, and often well behind the curve, the government has\u00a0\u00a0worsened its prognosis of the disaster. Last Friday, scientists affiliated\u00a0\u00a0with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the plant had\u00a0\u00a0released 15,000 terabecquerels of cancer-causing Cesium, equivalent\u00a0\u00a0to about 168 times the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the event that\u00a0\u00a0ushered in the nuclear age. (Professor Busby says the release is at least\u00a0\u00a072,000 times worse than Hiroshima).<\/p>\n

Caught in a blizzard of often conflicting information, many Japanese\u00a0\u00a0instinctively grope for the beacons they know. Mr Ichida and his\u00a0\u00a0colleagues say they no longer trust the nuclear industry or the officials\u00a0\u00a0who assured them the Fukushima plant was safe. But they have faith in\u00a0\u00a0government radiation testing and believe they will soon be allowed back\u00a0\u00a0to sea.<\/p>\n

That’s a mistake, say sceptics, who note a consistent pattern of official\u00a0\u00a0lying, foot-dragging and concealment. Last week, officials finally admitted\u00a0\u00a0something long argued by its critics: that thousands of people with homes\u00a0\u00a0near the crippled nuclear plant may not be able to return for a generation\u00a0\u00a0or more. “We can’t rule out the possibility that there will be some areas\u00a0\u00a0where it will be hard for residents to return to their homes for a long time,”\u00a0\u00a0said Yukio Edano, the government’s top government spokesman.\u00a0\u00a0“We are very sorry.”<\/p>\n

Last Friday, hundreds of former residents from Futaba and Okuma, the\u00a0\u00a0towns nearest the plant, were allowed to visit their homes \u2013 perhaps for\u00a0\u00a0the last time \u2013 to pick up belongings. Wearing masks and radiation suits,\u00a0\u00a0they drove through the 20 km contaminated zone around the plant, where\u00a0hundreds of animals have died and rotted in the sun, to find kitchens and\u00a0\u00a0living rooms partly reclaimed by nature. “It’s hard to believe we ever lived\u00a0\u00a0here,” one former resident told NHK.<\/p>\n

Several other areas northwest of the plant have become atomic ghost\u00a0\u00a0towns after being ordered to evacuate \u2013 too late, say many residents,\u00a0\u00a0who believe they absorbed dangerous quantities of radiation in the\u00a0\u00a0weeks after the accident. “We’ve no idea when we can come back,”\u00a0\u00a0says Katsuzo Shoji, who farmed rice and cabbages and kept a small\u00a0\u00a0herd of cattle near Iitate, a picturesque village about 40 km from the plant.<\/p>\n

Although it is outside the exclusion zone, the village’s mountainous\u00a0\u00a0topography meant radiation, carried by wind and rain, lingered,\u00a0\u00a0poisoning crops, water and school playgrounds.<\/p>\n

The young, the wealthy, mothers and pregnant women left for Tokyo\u00a0\u00a0or elsewhere. Most of the remaining 6000 people have since evacuated,\u00a0\u00a0after the government accepted that safe radiation limits had been\u00a0\u00a0exceeded.<\/p>\n

Mr Shoji, 75, went from shock to rage, then despair when the\u00a0\u00a0government told him he would have to destroy his vegetables, kill his\u00a0\u00a0six cows and move with his wife Fumi, 73, to an apartment in Koriyama,\u00a0\u00a0about 20 km away. “We’ve heard five, maybe 10 years but some say\u00a0\u00a0that’s far too optimistic,” he says, crying. “Maybe I’ll be able to come\u00a0\u00a0home to die.”<\/p>\n

He was given initial compensation of one million yen\u00a0(\u00a37,900) by\u00a0\u00a0Tepco, topped up with 350,000 yen from the government.<\/p>\n

It is the fate of people outside the evacuation zones, however, that\u00a0\u00a0causes the most bitter controversy. Parents in Fukushima City, 63 km\u00a0\u00a0from the plant, have banded together to demand that the government\u00a0\u00a0do more to protect about 100,000 children. Schools have banned\u00a0\u00a0soccer and other outdoor sports. Windows are kept closed.<\/p>\n

“We’ve just been left to fend for ourselves,” says Machiko Sato, a\u00a0\u00a0grandmother who lives in the city. “It makes me so angry.”<\/p>\n

Many parents have already sent their children to live with relatives\u00a0\u00a0or friends hundreds of kilometres away. Some want the government\u00a0\u00a0to evacuate the entire two million population of Fukushima Prefecture.\u00a0\u00a0“They’re demanding the right to be able to evacuate,” says\u00a0\u00a0anti-nuclear activist Aileen Mioko Smith, who works with the parents.\u00a0\u00a0“In other words, if they evacuate they want the government to\u00a0\u00a0support them.”<\/p>\n

So far, at least, the authorities say that is not necessary. The official\u00a0\u00a0line is that they are safe.<\/p>\n

But many experts warn that the crisis is just beginning. Professor\u00a0\u00a0Tim Mousseau, a biological scientist who has spent more than a\u00a0\u00a0decade researching the genetic impact of radiation around\u00a0\u00a0Chernobyl, says he worries that many people in Fukushima are\u00a0\u00a0“burying their heads in the sand.”<\/p>\n

His Chernobyl research concluded that biodiversity and the\u00a0\u00a0numbers of insects and spiders had shrunk inside the irradiated\u00a0\u00a0zone, and the bird population showed evidence of genetic defects,\u00a0\u00a0including smaller brain sizes.<\/p>\n

“The truth is that we don’t have sufficient data to provide accurate\u00a0\u00a0information on the long-term impact,” he says. “What we can say,\u00a0\u00a0though, is that there are very likely to be very significant long-term\u00a0\u00a0health impact from prolonged exposure.”<\/p>\n

In Soma, Mr. Ichida says all the talk about radiation is confusing.\u00a0\u00a0“All we want to do is get back to work. There are many different\u00a0\u00a0ways to die, and having nothing to do is one of them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Economic Cost<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Fukushima<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

Japan has estimated it will cost as much as
\n\u00a3188bn to rebuild following the earthquake,
\ntsunami and nuclear crisis.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Chernobyl<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

There are a number of estimates of the
\neconomic impact, but the total cost is
\nthought to be about \u00a3144 bn.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Safety<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Fukushima<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

Workers are allowed to operate in the
\ncrippled plant up to a dose of 250 mSv
\n(mSv = millisieverts).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Chernobyl<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

People exposed to 350 mSv were relocated.
\nIn most countries the maximum annual dosage
\nfor a worker is 20 mSv. The allowed dose for
\nsomeone living close to a nuclear plant is
\n1 mSv a year.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Death Toll<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Fukushima<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

Two workers died inside the plant. Some
\nscientists predict that one million lives will
\nbe lost to cancer.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Chernobyl<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

It is difficult to say how many people died on the
\nday of the disaster because of state security, but
\nGreenpeace estimates that 200,000 have died from
\nradiation-linked cancers in the 25 years since the
\naccident.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Exclusion Zone<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Fukushima
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		Tokyo initially ordered a 20 km radius exclusion
\nzone around the plant.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Chernobyl
\n<\/strong><\/td>\n		The initial radius of the Chernobyl zone was set
\nat 30 km — and 25 years later it is still largely in place.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Compensation<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Fukushima<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

Tepco’s share price has collapsed since the
\ndisaster largely because of the amount it will
\nneed to pay out, about \u00a310,000 a person.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Chernobyl<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

Not a lot. It has been reported that Armenian
\nvictims of the disaster were offered about \u00a36
\neach in 1986.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Foreign Aid<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Fukushima<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

The UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of
\nHumanitarian Affairs reported bilateral aid
\nworth $95 million.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0Chernobyl<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/td>\n

12 years after the disaster, the then Ukrainian
\npresident, Leonid Kuchma, complained that
\nhis country was still waiting for international help.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fukushima Fallout: Worse than Hiroshima or Chernobyl? by Gordon Edwards, August 29, 2011   Background:\u00a0 No one has ever before experienced the extensive radioactive\u00a0contamination of air, water, soil, and food that now faces the Japanese people\u00a0after the Fukushima disaster. It is important to realize that each nuclear reactor contains\u00a0\u00a0more than a thousand times as much …<\/p>\n

Fukushima Fallout: Worse than Hiroshima or Chernobyl?<\/span> Lire la suite\u00a0\u00bb<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1494","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1494"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1498,"href":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1494\/revisions\/1498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.ccnr.org\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}