IPPNW appeals to Japanese Prime Minister for urgent health protections in radioactive aftermath of Fukushima nuclear catastrophe

The three co-presidents of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) -- Sergey Kolesnikov of Russia, Vappu Taipale of Finland, and Robert Mtonga of Zambia -- wrote Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on August 22nd urging immediate action to better protect those downwind and downstream of Fukushima Daiichi's radioactive fallout. IPPNW issued a press release in addition to the full text of the letter. Among its many urgent calls, IPPNW urges that preparations be made to evacuate residents as far as 100 km (as opposed to the current 20 km) from the three melted down atomic reactors, if radiological conditions demand it. IPPNW also calls for a return to the pre-catastrophe 100 millirem per year dose limits for the population, instead of the controversial 20-fold increase (to 2 rem per year) in "allowable" radiation doses for Fukushima Prefecture residents established by the Japanese federal government in April.