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Radiation, the Media, and Public Health

On March 11^th, 2011, a tsunami, following a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, in Japan disabled three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.   All three cores were in a full meltdown. There have been no deaths or cases of radiation sickness from the nuclear accident, but over 100,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes.  Some of the many issues that have been associated with the Fukushima event has been airborne radiation, radiation in the food and water, and also the global spread of radiation. This nuclear meltdown has been the worst recorded nuclear accident to date.  The media has an infamous way of reacting to major events such as this one.

 Three Mile Island, a nuclear incident that occurred in 1970’s New York is a good example of the media’s influence.  At Three Mile Island, no radiation was ever leaked from the reactors, and no harm was done to humans or the environment.  Once the media got a hold of the news that a malfunction happened, they set fear into the hearts of the public, and in turn, grew the situation to great proportions.  Still today, confusion amongst the public stands on what actually happened at Three Mile Island. 

With the widespread access to technology, and the ability for all opinions to be heard on the internet, it is difficult to discern actual events and true information.  Nuclear radiation, and how it’s measured, is not common knowledge to the public.  According to the CDC, radiation can be measured in Curies, Becquerels, rads, grays, rems and sieverts.  The unit of measurement chosen depends on reference to the source of radiation, whether it be the body, the environment, or direct emissions. 

In Fukushima, one of the original readings was 900,000 Becquerels (Bq), with a later revisal of 5 million Becquerels.  That sounds like a very large amount of radiation.  One Curie is equal to 37 billion becquerels.  900,000 Bq sounds a lot more dangerous than less than 1 curie.  To make the situation more confusing, nuclear incidents are also evaluated on an international rating scale.  Fukushima was originally given a rating of 3.  This rating sounds mild and really doesn't present too much fear in the general public.  However a level 3 is considered a “serious incident.”  Recently, the Fukushima power plant meltdown was rated a 7.  A 7/10 is pretty high, but it’s still not the highest rating.  Wrong.  The rating scale is a 1-7 scale.

This confusion and multiple ratings and readings are used by the media to warp a situation to favor their agenda.  The facts can be misconstrued to be both an immediate health risk and also of no real concern.  By doing this, public health officials have to work harder to report the actual facts and inform the public in a way that is generally understood.  Even after much research, the true levels of radiation released at Fukushima are debatable.  The media needs to team up with public health officials to dismantle false reports and inform the world of the truth behind Fukushima and other disasters.  

Map showing the decrease in radiation from 2011 to 2012

Fukushima Daiichi shortly after the reactor meltdowns

http://world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Safety-of-Plants/Fukushima-Accident/
http://www.tasnimnews.com/English/Home/Single/276880
http://www.emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/measurement.asp
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2013/08/130829-fukushima-level-3-serious-incident-rating/
  Michio Kaku        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STSmFZeE50E  
  Fukushima Now     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB-K78L8oNI
  Experts Shocked at View of Reactor  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-BXmlYouWA   
  Picture of Japanese TV showing meltdown. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SANdl2DtbCs 
  Seattles dying sea stars    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRohJfskNWs  
  Measuring Radiation   http://www.emergency.cdc.gov/radiation/measurement.asp