HOW MUCH
RADIATION WAS RELEASED ATMOSPHERICALLY AND INTO THE OCEAN?
HOW
CONTAMINATED ARE THE SOIL, WATER, AND FOOD SUPPLY OF JAPAN AND OTHER NATIONS
IMPACTED BY FALLOUT?
HOW MUCH
RADIATION IS STILL BEING RELEASED INTO THE ATMOSPHERE AND OCEAN?
HOW
FREQUENTLY ARE TRANSIENT CRITICALITIES OCCURRING AT DAICHI?
WHAT IS THE
LIKELIHOOD OF ANOTHER VERY LARGE RELEASE?
WILL THE
RELATIVELY SLOW RELEASE ACROSS TIME BE AS DEADLY IN THE LONG RUN?
WHAT EFFECTS
ARE PREDICTED BY THOSE WHO HAVE RELIABLE AND VALID DATA ON TOTAL AND ONGOING
RELEASES?
HOW
EFFECTIVE ARE THE CURRENT RISK MODELS PRESUMABLY INFORMING THOSE WHO HAVE THE
DATA?
HOW WILL
POPULATION RISKS REALLY INCREASE ACROSS TIME?
This last question has been driving my inquiry
but the answer is not clear.
Actual
deposition data are few and the existing empirical studies offer only a
snapshot, usually dating from mid 2011. Lack of knowledge about contamination and
bio-accumulation may actually increase present and future risks as populations fail to avoid
contamination sources.
Who
shoulders the risk of Fukushima and other genotoxic sources produced through human
engineering and accidents? Ultimately it is individuals who will suffer the externalities
of radiation accidents, among other environmental catastrophes.
The young and the
poor typically suffer the most as they are most vulnerable to the biological
and economic effects of environmental insults. The long-term effects of the
yet-to-be-born can be denied for years until effects are unmistakable at clinical
levels. Still, years will pass as empirical evidence is collected, analyzed and
published establishing significant levels of harm. It will be too late for
those effected and perhaps too late for their children as well.
So, WHILE
THE FREQUENCY, RANGE, AND GENERATIONAL DURATION OF FUKUSHIMA EFFECTS REMAIN
UNDISCLOSED,
IT IS QUITE CLEAR THAT THE MAJORITY OF RISK HAS BEEN SHIFTED FROM TEPCO AND THE JAPANESE GOVERNMENT TO THE
PEOPLE OF JAPAN AND ELSEWHERE IMPACTED BY THIS HUMAN-CAUSED DISASTER.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.