Fallout from the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown is unlikely to increase cancer rates in Japan, a UN study has found. Nevertheless investigators say that children most exposed to radiation could run a greater risk of contracting thyroid cancer.
Dispelling fears of an increase in cancer cases similar to the
aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, UN investigators
claim cancers levels will “remain stable” in Japan.
"No discernible changes in future cancer rates and hereditary
diseases are expected due to exposure to radiation as a result of
the Fukushima nuclear accident," UNSCEAR (United Nations
Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) said in
a statement accompanying its nearly 300-page study.
The report, entitled ‘Levels and effects of radiation exposure due to the nuclear accident after the 2011 great east-Japan earthquake and tsunami’, attributes the limited impact of the nuclear disaster on the Japanese public to “prompt protective actions on the part of the Japanese authorities following the accident.” Additionally, the study’s authors ruled out a rise in hereditary diseases and babies born with birth defects.
However, scientists drew attention to a group of around 1,000
children who could have been exposed to a potentially dangerous
dose of radiation (100 mGy) in the wake of the Fukushima
disaster. They said levels of thyroid cancer among this group
could be expected to increase and this would have to be closely
monitored in the future.
Six minors in the Fukushima Prefecture who were 18 or younger
when the disaster struck in March 2011 have been diagnosed with
thyroid cancer.
“The occurrence of a large number of radiation-induced
thyroid cancers as were observed after Chernobyl can be
discounted because doses were substantially lower,” writes
the study. At the same time it admits there are “uncertainties”
regarding those who were exposed to radioactive radiation
straight after the incident.
“The most exposed workers will receive regular health
checks," said Wolfgang Weiss, chair of the assessment.
The study itself involved 80 leading scientists who analyzed the
effects of radiation on marine ecosystems and flora and fauna
surrounding the derelict plant. They found that any tangible
effects were “transient,” with the exception wildlife in
the shoreline area adjacent to the Fukushima power plant.
Three years after the meltdowns at Fukushima, the consequences of
the disaster are not only physical. Children born at the time are
experiencing developmental issues such as emotional issues and
short tempers.
"There are children who are very fearful. They ask before
they eat anything, 'Does this have radiation in it?' And we have
to tell them it's OK to eat," said Mitsuhiro Hiraguri,
director of the Emporium Kindergarten in Koriyama, some 55 km
west of the Fukushima nuclear plant.
The Japanese authorities have been heavily criticized for their
management of the Fukushima nuclear power plant after the
earthquake-triggered tidal wave hit the facility in 2011 causing
multiple meltdowns.
TEPCO, the company that owns the plant, is currently engaged in a
lengthy cleanup process at the site which has been dogged by
delays and set-backs. Leaks from the facility of radioactive
water have proved to be a consistent thorn in the side of the
operation, with an estimated 100 metric tons of highly
contaminated escaping and being absorbed into the ground earlier
this year.
The authorities also began the highly dangerous task of removing
the facility’s depleted fuel rods last November. Over 1,500 rods
have to be removed from stricken Reactor 4 and transported into
underwater storage in a process that is expected to take around a
year. It is thought that it will take decades to complete the
full cleanup operation and will cost billions of dollars.