Alarmist predictions that the long-term health effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan will be worse than those following Chernobyl in 1986 are likely to aggravate harmful psychological effects of the incident. That was the warning heard at an in Warsaw, Poland, this week.
, quoted a scientist who predicted more than a million would die, and that the prolonged release of radioactivity from Fukushima would make health effects worse than those from the sudden release experienced at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in Ukraine.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to stop these sorts of reports coming out, because they are really upsetting the Japanese population,鈥� says at Imperial College London, who is attending the meeting. 鈥淭he media has a hell of a lot of responsibility here, because the worst post-Chernobyl effects were the psychological consequences and this shouldn鈥檛 happen again.鈥�
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that the release of radioactivity from Fukushima is about 10 per cent that of Chernobyl. 鈥淭here鈥檚 very little leakage now,鈥� says Thomas. 鈥淭he Japanese did the right thing at the right time, providing stable iodine to ensure that doses of radioactive iodine to the thyroids of children were minimal,鈥� she says.
Thomas said that Japanese researchers attending the meeting are upset too. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e saying: 鈥楶lease tell the truth, because no one believes us鈥�.鈥�
