Fukushima meltdown did not damage health of locals
The Guardian, TOKYO
The nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, a decade ago has not damaged the health of local residents, a UN report says.
Gillian Hirth, chairwoman of the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), said that “no adverse health effects among Fukushima residents have been documented that could be directly attributed to radiation exposure from the accident” in March 2011.
UNSCEAR said that the latest findings supported a 2013 report on the health effects of radiation released after a meltdown at three reactors of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
Despite Nuclear Meltdown in Fukushima No Evidence if Radiation - UN Published March 10th, 2021 - 10:20 GMT
This picture taken on February 27, 2021 shows reverend Akira Sato wearing in protective suit as he poses outside the old building of the Fukushima First Bible Baptist Church in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture. Ten years after a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami that overwhelmed the cooling systems at the nearby Fukushima Daiichi plant, sending it into meltdown, the Fukushima First Bible Baptist Church is a hollow shell. Philip FONG / AFP
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It also said future health issues directly related to the incident would also likely be indiscernible.
VIENNA, March 9 Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster has not harmed the health of local residents 10 years on, according to a report published today by UN researchers. Since the last report in 2013 “no adverse health effects among Fukushima residents have been documented that could be.
Disaster preparedness is key, 10 years on from Japan quake and tsunami: UN
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The UN chief urged countries to make sure they invest the funds necessary to prevent and manage disasters, in a solemn message of remembrance on Wednesday for the 18,400 people who died or are unaccounted for, due to the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan exactly ten years ago.
Known officially as the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, António Guterres expressed his condolences, “to those who continue to grieve the loss of loved ones.
“And I think of those who remain displaced, unable to return to their homes because of safety concerns surrounding the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant”, added the Secretary-General.
A U.N. scientific panel on Tuesday confirmed a previous finding that radiation from the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan was unlikely to raise cancer rates discernibly, and said a jump in thyroid cancer in children was due to "ultrasensitive" screening methods.