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posted by takyon on Wednesday August 05 2015, @12:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the well-being dept.

On the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a three-part Series published in The Lancet looks at the enduring radiological and psychological impact of nuclear disasters, including the most recent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan in 2011. The Series provides vital information for the public health planning of future disasters to protect the millions of people who live in areas surrounding the 437 nuclear power plants that are in operation worldwide.

[...] In one of the Series papers [Paper 2], radiological protection experts led by Dr Koichi Tanigawa of Fukushima Medical University, Japan, discuss an often overlooked aspect of nuclear disasters—the psychological burden of those living in the regions affected by the accident. In 2006, the UN Chernobyl Forum report concluded that the accident's most serious public health issue was the adverse effects on mental health, an effect made worse by poor communication about the health risks associated with reported radiation levels. Rates of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder remain elevated 20 years after the accident. Similar problems were seen after Fukushima, with the Fukushima Health Management Survey reporting that the proportion of adults with psychological distress (14.6%) was almost five times higher among disaster evacuees compared to the general population (3%). The authors also highlight how repeated evacuation and long-term displacement resulted in severe health-care problems for the most vulnerable, with deaths among elderly people increasing threefold in the first three months following evacuation.

According to Dr Tanigawa, "Although the radiation dose to the public from Fukushima was relatively low, and no discernible physical health effects are expected, psychological and social problems, largely stemming from the differences in risk perceptions, have had a devastating impact on people's lives."


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by GungnirSniper on Wednesday August 05 2015, @02:46AM

    by GungnirSniper (1671) on Wednesday August 05 2015, @02:46AM (#218314) Journal

    "Although the radiation dose to the public from Fukushima was relatively low, and no discernible physical health effects are expected, psychological and social problems, largely stemming from the differences in risk perceptions, have had a devastating impact on people's lives."

    That's a nice way of saying people are getting needless anxiety about Fukushima. Yet the atomic attacks on Japan did not yield all their first-generation fruits ten years after the bombings. [k1project.org] Those who were pregnant at the time of the blasts oft found their children to have smaller heads and have mental retardation. [atomicbombmuseum.org] So the Japanese are rightfully worried with history like that.

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  • (Score: 2, Disagree) by mojo chan on Wednesday August 05 2015, @09:02AM

    by mojo chan (266) on Wednesday August 05 2015, @09:02AM (#218409)

    TFA is wrong. There are expected to be long term health effects, it's only the magnitude of them which is being questioned. Unfortunately we won't know exactly what they are for decades, which is the source of much of the worry. There might be a ticking time bomb of health problems, or there might not. Your kids might be the lucky ones, or they might get some form of cancer or infertility. Even if they don't, there is stigma attached to having been exposed that might affect them. After the atomic bombings people hid the fact that they were survivors because their children were bullied and found it hard to find a husband/wife.

    There are very real day-to-day concerns as well. The main danger now is from radioactive material getting inside the body. Children love to play in the dirt. Parents have to carry detection equipment when visiting somewhere unfamiliar, or at least ensure that someone else they trust has made a thorough survey of the area. Attempts to decontaminate have failed and had to be repeated multiple times in some areas, because it's very hard to get everything and there is always the danger that someone will dig something up or an earthquake will open the ground up and release more material into the environment, as often the contaminated soil and building material was simply buried. Wild animals like to burrow and eat root vegetables etc.

    Bottom line is that even if the risk is relatively low, it is still a high stress environment. There are very real dangers that must be guarded against, and humans don't cope well with long term invisible threats.

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    const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)