10 Years After Fukushima: UN Finds No Elevated Levels of Cancer Among Those Exposed To Radiation; Greenpeace Disagrees

A new report from a United Nations committee finds no elevated levels of cancer so far among those exposed in the disaster that doomed the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan in March 2011.

The disaster resulted from a magnitude 9 earthquake, one of the largest ever recorded, and a subsequent tsunami that led to radioactive releases at the coastal nuclear plant. It wasn't just there: the quake and tsunami caused widespread damage across Japan.

Effects on health have been monitored ever since, and so far, the news has been a relief.

"No adverse health effects among Fukushima residents have been documented that are directly attributable to radiation exposure from the (nuclear plant) accident," the report released this week by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation concludes.

But the Japanese government didn't take chances. Residential areas near the plant were turned into ghost towns as a safety precaution due to radiation exposure. The neighborhoods were evacuated long term.

Even though about 80% of the radiation released from the plant drifted out to sea, it quickly dispersed and there have been no widespread elevated radiation levels detected in fish or other sea life, according to the report.

It says the committee believes that regional impacts on wildlife from the nuclear plant accident remain "unlikely although detrimental effects on individual organisms might have been possible."

A report released timed to the 10th anniversary by Greenpeace Japan has a different perspective.  The report claims it “shows
how the government of Japan, largely under prime minister Shinzo Abe, has attempted to deceive the Japanese people by misrepresenting the effectiveness of the decontamination program as well as the overall radiological risks in Fukushima.” The report also says that the area “where the government has taken direct charge of decontamination, remains contaminated with radioactive cesium.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says, “small quantities of cesium or Cs-137 can be found in the environment from nuclear weapons and from nuclear reactor accidents.”

Fukushima, along with the 1986 Chernobyl accident that occurred in the Soviet Union, shook the nuclear power industry. In the U.S., nuclear power for generating electricity has fallen out of favor in recent years despite being viewed by some as being able to play a role in curbing global warming. Instead, the U.S. has been promoting renewables wind and solar as better solutions.

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