"Radio-phobia" rears its ugly head yet again, this time at Fukushima

A particularly cynical and cruel form of "Nukespeak" is downplaying actual radiological injury by trumpeting "radio-phobia" after nuclear catastrophes like Fukushima DaiichiNuclear power boosters have long tried to convince victims of radioactive catastrophes that "it's all in your head." Both at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, the nuclear power industry -- and its friends in government regulatory agencies, the PR industry, and even academia -- tried to convince the public that any ill effects were not due to physical impacts of radioactive fallout, but rather to stress and worry caused by "anti-nuclear fear mongering." A short piece in NewScientist gives this Orwellian "psy-ops" ploy "airtime" yet again, this time in the context of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe.