In unofficial tests carried out on some 130 children who were evacuated from around the Fukushima nuclear plant, ten were found to have hormonal irregularities associated with their thyroid glands, according to AFP News Agency. Fukushima Daiichi is the name of the Japanese nuclear power station that was badly damaged by the earthquake and tsunami back in March of this year.
Now, around 360,000 young people, who were all under 18 at the time of the tsunami will be tested for irregularities in their thyroid glands. Radioactive iodine, which made up the bulk of radioactive materials leaking from the plant is known to cause thyroid problems, especially in young people, who are more vulnerable to its effects.
Similar problems were recorded in the area around the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, after the accident there, which took place in 1986. More than 6,000 people who were then children living in the area of the Chernobyl plant have gone on to develop thyroid cancers. Clearly, Japanese parents are worried that the same could happen to their children.
The really scary thing with radiation is the fact that it’s unseen. You can’t tell whether it’s there or not (at least, not without radiation detection equipment), but it can get into the air, the soil, into food and into water and there’s nothing you can do about it. Fortunately, radioactive iodine 131, which is the isotope of iodine that leaked from Fukushima, has a very short half life (the time it takes for radioactivity to reduce by a half) of about eight days. So it’s a lot less dangerous more than six months on than it was at the time of the accident. But the damage may already have been done.
If we are going to use nuclear power (and in the UK, I think we will be for the next 30 years at least) we need to ensure that every possible safeguard is put in place to prevent this kind of a leak of radioactive material happening here. There is no room for cost-cutting at all here. As I heard someone say on the radio last week in relation to the airline industry “if you think safety is expensive, try having an accident”. The same surely applies to nuclear energy.
Radiation effects tested in children around Fukushima
In unofficial tests carried out on some 130 children who were evacuated from around the Fukushima nuclear plant, ten were found to have hormonal irregularities associated with their thyroid glands, according to AFP News Agency. Fukushima Daiichi is the name of the Japanese nuclear power station that was badly damaged by the earthquake and tsunami back in March of this year.
Now, around 360,000 young people, who were all under 18 at the time of the tsunami will be tested for irregularities in their thyroid glands. Radioactive iodine, which made up the bulk of radioactive materials leaking from the plant is known to cause thyroid problems, especially in young people, who are more vulnerable to its effects.
Similar problems were recorded in the area around the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine, after the accident there, which took place in 1986. More than 6,000 people who were then children living in the area of the Chernobyl plant have gone on to develop thyroid cancers. Clearly, Japanese parents are worried that the same could happen to their children.
The really scary thing with radiation is the fact that it’s unseen. You can’t tell whether it’s there or not (at least, not without radiation detection equipment), but it can get into the air, the soil, into food and into water and there’s nothing you can do about it. Fortunately, radioactive iodine 131, which is the isotope of iodine that leaked from Fukushima, has a very short half life (the time it takes for radioactivity to reduce by a half) of about eight days. So it’s a lot less dangerous more than six months on than it was at the time of the accident. But the damage may already have been done.
If we are going to use nuclear power (and in the UK, I think we will be for the next 30 years at least) we need to ensure that every possible safeguard is put in place to prevent this kind of a leak of radioactive material happening here. There is no room for cost-cutting at all here. As I heard someone say on the radio last week in relation to the airline industry “if you think safety is expensive, try having an accident”. The same surely applies to nuclear energy.