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."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2015, @01:22AM
How do they measure "distress"? How stable are these measurements over time? Measuring living things at a single timepoint is really not capable of providing useful information.
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Wednesday August 05 2015, @04:12AM
Pretty sure the 'stress' from Hiroshima and Nagasaki was much higher than Fukushima...as the US was ready to drop more if Japan didn't surrender.
Of maybe there was a media blackout back then...
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2015, @01:31AM
Inability to face up to their history?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2015, @02:20AM
Setting of a few atomic bombs at Fukushima should incinerate the material involved. Problem gone.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by GungnirSniper on Wednesday August 05 2015, @02:46AM
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.
Tips for better submissions to help our site grow. [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2, Disagree) by mojo chan on Wednesday August 05 2015, @09:02AM
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.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2015, @07:46AM
Hi,
for german speakers, here's a whole slew of articles regarding the Hiroshima anniversary at Spiegel Online:
http://www.spiegel.de/einestages/70-jahre-hiroshima-zeitalter-der-nuklearen-bedrohung-a-1044830.html [spiegel.de]
(Score: 3, Informative) by mtrycz on Wednesday August 05 2015, @08:18AM
Maybe a little known aspect of the bombings are the (half a million) Hibakusha, those that survived the bombings. I'll paste an excerpt from Wikipedia
Hibakusha and their children were (and still are) victims of severe discrimination in Japan due to public ignorance about the consequences of radiation sickness, with much of the public believing it to be hereditary or even contagious.[251] This is despite the fact that no statistically demonstrable increase of birth defects or congenital malformations was found among the later conceived children born to survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[252] A study of the long-term psychological effects of the bombings on the survivors found that even 17–20 years after the bombings had occurred survivors showed a higher prevalence of anxiety and somatization symptoms.[253]
Basically these people, and their children, have lived lives of rejects and exiles, even from their own families, for being the almost-victims of american bomings.
How's that for psychological impact?
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(Score: 1) by jcm on Wednesday August 05 2015, @09:21AM
This is despite the fact that no statistically demonstrable increase of birth defects or congenital malformations was found among the later conceived children born to survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Sure, but what about the consequences of the damaged DNA ?
Personally, my grandfather was a survivor of mustard gas.
All of his children and some grandchildren were affected by this, with various degrees of disability and serious health problems.
Just measuring the death and problems of newborns completely hides the true problem of long-term impact, which may propagate on the future generations.
(Score: 1) by Gault.Drakkor on Thursday August 06 2015, @12:47AM
I recall seeing a photo of a child being examined during evac procedures from Fukushima region. It was striking in terms of the examiner's behavior. The examiner is in full bunnysuit/kit pointing a radiation sensor at the child. First glance meh.
Second glance: The radiation sensor is weapon like. The examiner is keeping their body the maximum possible distance from the poor child. The examiner is in full protective kit. The examiner is still frightened. Frightened of a healthy appearing child days+ beyond initial event.
Combined with the trauma of evacuation, that can not but leave a frightful impression on the child and the fellow evacuees.
That does give the impression of radiation FUD and ignorance is a big problem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2015, @12:40PM
there you go!
another reason NOT to split atoms to power the psychiatric wards!
ofc this "could" turn out to be a WIN-WIN situation : (
(Score: 3, Informative) by bart9h on Wednesday August 05 2015, @03:09PM
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not disasters, they were deliberate attacks.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2015, @04:32PM
Interesting thread. We have one post claiming that the survivors of Nagasaki and Hiroshima had children with birth defects, and another claiming they do not but are discriminated against as if they do. I don't think we understand the effects of radiation (or much of anything regarding medicine) very well.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Stevens [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1) by pillo on Thursday August 06 2015, @09:45AM
http://www.thelancet.com/series/from-hiroshima-and-nagasaki-to-fukushima [thelancet.com]
(free but require registration)