Exposure to ionizing radiation from Fukushima: The collision of science and public policy

Since the March 2011 multiple meltdowns of nuclear reactors in Fukushima, Japan, acute and persistent health impacts have been a matter of contention, as exemplified by results of ongoing screening of over 360,000 Japanese children considered at risk for the development of thyroid disease and cancer from exposure to radioactive iodine released by the disaster. Radioactive contamination of land and water continues unabated, including the generation of a plume of radioactive material in the Pacific Ocean heading towards the west coast of North America. Concerns about the safety of seafood and other potentially contaminated foodstuffs have been reinforced by sporadic reports of measurements of increased radioactivity. 

Such issues underscore the need for a more systematic and robust program of food safety testing and certification, particularly for Japanese and neighboring western Pacific populations in closer proximity to the ongoing leaks, and for more distant populations receiving exported foodstuffs of uncertain provenance. While such measures could help clarify the current and evolving threats to the Japanese and global food supply, they provide inadequate protection to populations still threatened by ongoing dangers emanating from Fukushima, including the potential threat of more cataclysmic releases from already damaged structures.

 This presentation will address how these scientific uncertainties have collided with debates about the larger public health and social justice consequences of energy policy values and preferences, at a time when nuclear power continues to be promoted as a prime antidote to unfolding global warming.