NUCLEAR FALLOUT AT FUKUSHIMA

Experts clash on Fukushima radiation effects Some scientists say authorities in favour of nuclear energy tend to deny the negative results of researchers.

John Boyd, 30 August, 2014 Al Jazeera

“In the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on 11 March 2011, the Daiichi nuclear plant in Fukushima was badly wrecked in a series of meltdowns and explosions that severely damaged three reactors and one spent-fuel pool…The accident released enormous quantities of radionuclides (radioactive material)…Three years on, calculating the injurious effects of this radiation on plant, animal and human health has become a matter of controversy…

“A broad scientific study by [the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR)] was widely criticized by independent researchers for its generally benign findings and lack of reference to the negative data cited in a number of specific scientific studies published earlier…[It concluded that accumulated] doses (of radiation over the first two months following the accident) were estimated to have fallen short of levels found to cause observable effects [in plants and animals]…[A] multidisciplinary group of scientists called the Chernobyl + Fukushima Research Initiative (CFRI), relies heavily on field studies for its reports…[It cites] some half-dozen studies indicating the negative effects of Fukushima radiation had been released before the UNSCEAR report…[and says that scientists] in favour of nuclear energy tend to deny the negative results of researchers…” click here for more

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