Published: September 29th, 2011 at 7:01 am ET
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Japan Failed to Hand Out Radiation Pills, Wall Street Journal, September 29, 2011:
[...] In interviews with The Wall Street Journal, several national and local government officials and advisers [...] cited an abrupt move by the government shortly after the accident, when local officials raised sharply the level of radiation exposure that would qualify an individual for iodine pills [...]
According to official disaster manuals written before the accident, anyone who showed radiation readings of 13,000 counts per minute [...] was to be given KI pills [...]
On March 14, Fukushima prefecture raised that cutoff to 100,000 cpm. [...]
The World Health Organization advocates [1,300 cpm] for giving the medication to children. [...]
“When they told us they wanted to raise the screening level, we instantly knew we had a serious level of contamination [...] They were implicitly telling us they had more people than they could handle logistically, amid the shortage of water, clothing and manpower.” -Gen Suzuki, a physician specializing in radiation research and adviser to Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission
Gauges on radiation monitors set for 13,000 cpm going off repeatedly: “It was very clear the previous level of 13,000 cpm wouldn’t work [...] We discussed how the staff should turn off alarm sounds and refrain from wearing protective suits and face masks in order not to fan worries among residents.” -Naoki Matsuda, a professor of radiation biology at Nagasaki University and an adviser to the Fukushima prefecture government
Published: September 29th, 2011 at 7:01 am ET
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This seems to be yet another way the industry and Gov’t of Japan has let down it’s people. The article also raises some interesting questions. If Gen Suzuki is telling the truth that getting iodine pills to the populace was logistically impossible:
1. Did the gov’t seek help from other countries before raising the radiation levels?
2. If they didn’t, why not. If they did, what were the responses?
3. Are other countries logistically prepared to respond to the needs of it’s people? Just curious
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The World “Health” Organization (WHO) is one of the biggest pieces of shit on this planet. They don’t move a muscle unless the IAEA says so.
Here’s their assessment of Chernobyl as of 2005 (Fukushima will likely be just as rosy years from now):
“A total of up to 4000 people could eventually die of radiation exposure from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) accident nearly 20 years ago, an international team of more than 100 scientists has concluded.
As of mid-2005, however, fewer than 50 deaths had been directly attributed to radiation from the disaster, almost all being highly exposed rescue workers, many who died within months of the accident but others who died as late as 2004.”
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr38/en/index.html
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