Cancer risk 70% higher for females in Fukushima area, says WHO

People in the area worst affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident two years ago have a higher risk of developing certain cancers, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday.

Girls exposed as infants in the worst hit areas have a higher risk of developing thyroid cancer over their lifetime.

In the most contaminated area, the WHO estimated that there was a 70% higher risk – up from a baseline risk of 0.77% to 1.29% – of females exposed as infants developing thyroid cancer over their lifetime. The thyroid is the most exposed organ as radioactive iodine concentrates there and children are deemed especially vulnerable.

The report estimated that in the most contaminated area there was a 7% higher risk of leukaemia in males exposed as infants, and a 6% higher risk of breast cancer in females exposed as infants. The Guardian

Fukushima radiation spread to residential areas hours before venting

Radioactive material from the damaged Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant spread to residential areas hours before workers vented the containment vessel of the plant's No. 1 reactor on March 12, 2011, to release pressure, it has emerged.

In one area, the level of radiation had surged to more than 700 times the normal level, indicating that many local residents were exposed to high levels of radiation before they evacuated.

The Fukushima Prefectural Government operated 25 monitoring posts around the nuclear power plant before it was crippled by the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. Five monitoring posts were swept away by the tsunami, and 20 couldn't send data because the quake caused power cuts. Accordingly, officials were unable to put the data to use when evacuating residents. The Mainichi

Fukushima Rescue Mission Lasting Legacy: Radioactive Contamination of Americans

The Department of Defense has decided to walk away from an unprecedented medical registry of nearly 70,000 American service members, civilian workers, and their families caught in the radioactive clouds blowing from the destroyed nuclear power plants at Fukushima Daiichi in Japan.

The decision to cease updating the registry means there will be no way to determine if patterns of health problems emerge among the members of the Marines, Army, Air Force, Corps of Engineers, and Navy stationed at 63 installations in Japan with their families. In addition, it leaves thousands of sailors and Marines in the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group 7 on their own when it comes to determining if any of them are developing problems caused by radiation exposure. First in a multi-part series. Newsroom Jersey

Beyond Nuclear featured at "Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident,” March 11-12, New York Academy of Medicine

Helen Caldicott, Beyond Nuclear's Founding PresidentFUKUSHIMA TWO YEARS LATER: 

Global symposium to address mounting medical & ecological consequences

March 11-12 – New York Academy of Medicine

[New York – January 24, 2013]  Two years after the March 11, 2011 triple meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, new research and new information continues to come to light about its continuing bio-medical and ecological consequences, how they compare with Chernobyl, and what they indicate about the impact of nuclear power on public health, safety, and the environment.

A unique public symposium, “The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident,” will be held on March 11-12 at the New York Academy of Medicine to explore the latest data and its implications. A project of The Helen Caldicott Foundation, the symposium is being co-sponsored by Physicians for Social Responsibility.

The Japanese Prime Minister during the Fukushima crisis, Naoto Kan, will open the symposium with a special videotaped message.  He will be followed by another video message fom Hiroaki Koide, Master of Nuclear Engineering, Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute (KURRI), Specialist of Radiaiton Safety and Control.

Then an international group of some of the world’s leading experts – including several from Japan and the U.S. - in radiation biology, embryology, epidemiology, oceanography, nuclear engineering, and nuclear policy will make presentations and participate in panel discussions. Among them are Dr. Ken Buesseler of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute;  Dr. Hisako Sakiyama, a member of the Japanese Diet’s Fukushima Accident Independent Investigative Commission; Dr. Alexey Yablokov of the Russian Academy of Sciences; and many others (see below for a list of presenters).

Much of the information and analysis that the participants will present is new.  All of it is highly relevant to the current debate about the future of nuclear power in Japan, the U.S. and globally.

“The Fukushima crisis is actually an issue of global public health,” said Dr. Helen Caldicott, the symposium’s organizer.  “As a physician, I’ve been distressed about the lack of general understanding of the medical science that should be part of any discussion of nuclear power, but isn’t.  For example, cancers in humans take from five to seventy years to develop after radiation exposure, so it takes time to actually see the effects in populations,” she said. “But we are  already observing a demonstrable increased incidence of thyroid abnormalities in children in the Fukushima Prefecture. This may be an early indicator of an eventual increased incidence of thyroid cancers. Further, plumes of radioactivity from Fukushima are currently migrating in the Pacific Ocean towards the West Coast of the U.S.”

“This crisis is far from over. Large radioactive releases into the ocean continue, and thousands of tons of radioactive waste are set to be incinerated in cities throughout Japan. And worst of all, Fukushima Daiichi’s building #4, which holds 100 tons of highly radioactive spent fuel, was seriously damaged during the earthquake and could collapse in another large quake. This would cause the fuel pool to burn, releasing even more massive amounts of radiation. All of these have profound medical and public health implications.”

Confirmed speakers at the symposium include:

· Dr. Herbert Abrams, Emeritus Professor Radiology, Stanford University, Member of Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation Committee, National Academy of Sciences (BEIR VII), presenting on "The Hazards of Low-level Ionizing Radiation: Controversy and Evidence."

· Robert Alvarez, former U.S. Department of Energy Senior Policy Advisor, now Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies, presenting on “Management of Spent Fuel Pools and Radioactive Waste”

· Dr. David Brenner, Higgins Professor of Radiation Physics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, presenting on “Mechanistic Models for Effects of Ionizing Radiation on Living Systems”

· Dr. Ken Buesseler, Marine Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, presenting on “Radionuclides in Ocean, Fish and the Seafloor”

· Dr. Ian Fairlie, independent consultant on radiation risks, former Secretary to UK Government’s Committee Examining the Radiation Risks of Internal Emitter, presenting on “The Nuclear Disaster at Fukushima: Nuclide Source Terms and Initial Health Effects”

· Cindy Folkers, Beyond Nuclear, presenting on “Post-Fukushima Food Monitoring in the USA”

· David Freeman, engineer and attorney, former Chairman, Tennessee Valley Authority and Science Advisor to former President Jimmy Carter, presenting on “My Experience with Nuclear Power”

· Arnie Gundersen, Nuclear Engineer, Fairewinds Associates, which consults on U.S. nuclear safety, presenting on “What Did They Know and When Did They Know It?”

· Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear, Specialist in High Level Waste Management and Transportation, presenting on “Seventy Years of Radioactive Risks in Japan and America”

· David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists, presenting on “Another Unsurprising Surprise”

· Dr. Donald Louria, Chairman Emeritus of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health of the University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey, will chair the symposium.

· Joe Mangano, Executive Director, Radiation and Public Health Project, presenting on “Post-Fukushima Increases in Newborn Hypothyroidism on the West Cost of USA”

· Akio Matsumura, Founder of Global Forum for Parliamentary Leaders on Global Survival, presenting on “What did the World Learn from the Fukushima Accident?”

· Dr. Tim Mousseau, Professor of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, presenting on “Chernobyl, Fukushima and other Hot Places: Biological Consequences”

· Dr. Marek Niedziela, Professor of Pediatrics, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poland, presenting on “Thyroid Pathology in Children with Particular Reference to Chernobyl and Fukushima”

· Mary Olson, Nuclear Information Resource Service, presenting on “Gender Matters in the Nuclear Age”

· Dr. Hisako Sakiyama, Doctor of Medicine, former Senior Researcher at National Institute Radiological Sciences, Japan, member of Fukushima Accident Independent Investigative Commission, presenting on “Risk Assessment of Low Dose Radiation in Japan: What Became Clear to the National Diet of Japan’s Fukushima Investigation Commission”

· Steven Starr, Senior Scientist, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Clinical Laboratory Science Program Director, University of Missouri, presenting on “The Implications of the Massive Contamination of Japan with Radioactive Cesium”

· Dr. Wladimir Wertelecki, former Chairman Department of Medical Genetics and Birth Defects Department at the University of South Alabama, presenting on “Congenital Malformations in Rivne, Polossia associated with the Chernobyl Accident”

· Dr. Steve Wing, Associate Professor of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, presenting on “Epidemiological Studies of Radiation Releases from Nuclear Facilities: Lessons from Past and Present”

· Dr. Alexey Yablokov, Russian Academy of Sciences, presenting on “Lessons from Chernobyl”

“The Medical and Ecological Consequences of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident” symposium will be held March 11 – 12 at the New York Academy of Medicine, located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street, beginning at 9am on March 11.  The symposium program is posted at www.helencaldicottfoundation.org. Members of the public can obtain information and register for the event online at http://www.helencaldicottfoundation.org/symposium.html 

NOTE TO JOURNALISTS AND BLOGGERS:  Members of the media are invited to attend all or part of the symposium free of charge.  Please see the symposium agenda (http://www.helencaldicottfoundation.org/symposium.html, bottom of the page) for dates and times of specific presentations and panels. Dr. Caldicott and other symposium presenters are available for advance or side interviews on request.  To arrange an interview, contact Josh Baran, jcbaran@gmail.com, 917-797-1799 or Stephen Kent, skent@kentcom.com, 914-589-5988  (members of the working media only please).

The first session of the symposium on Monday morning is highly recommended.  For media, when you RSVP, please state in your email if you will be attending the entire symposium, individual days or individual sessions.  Thanks.

About The Helen Caldicott Foundation

The goal of The Helen Caldicott Foundation is far-reaching public education about the often underestimated and poorly understood medical hazards of nuclear weapons and nuclear power.

About Physicians for Social Responsibility

PSR is the largest physician-led organization in the U.S. working to prevent nuclear war and proliferation and to slow, stop and reverse global warming and toxic degradation of the environment.

Media Contacts:  Josh Baran, jcbaran@gmail.com -  917-797-1799  and  Stephen Kent, skent@kentcom.com -  914-589-5988 

Update on February 28, 2013 by admin

Live stream:

The entire event will be live streamed, with several “live stream” meetings taking place around the country allowing people to attend remotely with facilitators present for discussion.

 For those of you who have friends and colleagues who cannot make it to the symposium in person, the event page: http://www.helencaldicottfoundation.org/symposium.html (and all the links) have been updated to include the live stream link. Please share widely, and encourage people to register online early if they plan to come in person.

The Asahi Shimbun runs a series on "crooked cleanup" after Fukushima

"Cleanup crews in Fukushima Prefecture have dumped soil and leaves contaminated with radioactive fallout into rivers. Water sprayed on contaminated buildings has been allowed to drain back into the environment. And supervisors have instructed workers to ignore rules on proper collection and disposal of the radioactive waste.

Decontamination is considered a crucial process in enabling thousands of evacuees to return to their homes around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and resume their normal lives.

But the decontamination work witnessed by a team of Asahi Shimbun reporters shows that contractual rules with the Environment Ministry have been regularly and blatantly ignored, and in some cases, could violate environmental laws." The Asahi Shimbun

And Beyond Nuclear has to ask what this means for attempting to assess radiation exposure and its impact on populations of both humans and animals. If Fukushima contamination is spread around like this is anyone unexposed? And since unexposed people are used to determine radiation health impacts to exposed populations, will this make conventional methods of determining health impacts harder or impossible to use? This wanton disregard for the impact of radioctivity is extremely troubling and one more bit of proof that the nuclear industry should never be in charge of either clean up or health assessments.