Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The American Spectator Magazine: "Let the People of Fukushima Go Home and Get Back to Work"

In an article written by Dr. Theodore Rockwell and posted on December 6, 2011, the conservative monthly magazine says "Let the People of Fukushima Go Home and Get Back to Work: The science doesn't support the panic".

For a moment, I thought I was reading Professor Wade Allison of Oxford University.

I couldn't get past the 2nd paragraph, though. I started laughing hysterically when I read:

"other people are living carefree in places like Norway, Brazil, Iran, India where folks have lived normal lives for countless generations with radiation levels as much as a hundred times greater than the forbidden areas of the Fukushima homes."

A hundred times greater??

The author of the article is saying people have lived happily in those areas with radiation levels exceeding 90 sieverts per year, then. That should be news to those people.

In a location in Okuma-machi, within 3 kilometers from the stricken plant, the air radiation level at 1 meter off the ground was 103.66 microsieverts/hour according to the measurement conducted by the town on September 13 and 14. The cumulative annual radiation exposure, if simply multiplying this number by 24 (per day) and then by 365, would be 908 millisieverts.

The author also seems to think nothing of the fact that people in Fukushima have lived there for generations with a low radiation level. The national average for Japan was 1.4 - 1.5 millisievert per year.

Not to mention that many "good people" in those high-radiation 20-kilometer radius areas in Fukushima DO NOT want to go back.

I became fearful that Dr. Rockwell might soon launch into radioactive potassium in bananas, so I stopped reading. But here it is, for your perusal.

From The American Spectator (12/6/2011):

The front-page story in the Washington Post on Sunday November 20 vividly portrayed the horrors of the evacuated zones around Fukushima with unforgettable imagery. A natural reaction is to call for more restrictive safety measures. But one point was not made clear: No one, not one single person, has received a life-altering injury from radiation since the disaster started unfolding last March. The atrocities described are caused by the application of international radiation standards that are set at levels far below where science shows adverse health effects occur, and by the fear of radiation that policy creates and nurtures. Once again, fear of radiation does more harm that the radiation itself.

The reality is that, while some people in the Fukushima housing area are wearing cumbersome rad-con suits, filtered gas-masks, gloves and booties, and putting the same on their children, other people are living carefree in places like Norway, Brazil, Iran, India where folks have lived normal lives for countless generations with radiation levels as much as a hundred times greater than the forbidden areas of the Fukushima homes.

The use of inappropriate radiation standards is not an abstract issue. People around Fukushima are being told they cannot return home for an indeterminate period -- perhaps years. And efforts to decontaminate their home sites to these standards may include stripping off all the rich top-soil and calling it RadWaste. People who were evacuated have been reduced to economic poverty, clinical depression, and even suicide.

There is good scientific evidence that, except for some hot spots, the radiation levels at these home-sites are not life-threatening. The current restrictions are based on a misguided desire to be "prudent." No matter how well intended, this "prudence" is cruelly destructive. Many radiation protectionists, such as Myron Pollycove, MD, former special assistant to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Dr. Jerry Cuttler, former President of the Canadian Nuclear Society, and Abel Gonzales of Brazil, vice-chair of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, are beginning to feel unhappy about the harm their rules have caused and are joining in the cry for quick action as the Japanese head into winter.

In 2002, U.S. Regulatory Report NCRP-136 examined the question of establishing permissible radiation limits. After looking at the data, it concluded that most people who get a small dose of nuclear radiation are not harmed by it, and in fact are benefited. That's what the science said: Most people would benefit by receiving more radiation, within the hormetic range. "Benefit" means the incidence of cancer and genetic damage would be less than it would be without the additional radiation.

But curiously, the report's final conclusion was just the opposite. It recommended that our regulations should be based on the unsupported premise that any amount of radiation, no matter how small, should be considered harmful. It justified that recommendation as "conservative" or "prudent." Let's think about that. Why is it prudent do just the opposite of what the science indicates? Why is exaggerating a panicky situation considered prudent? I've never seen a good answer to that.

Last month, British radiation expert Wade Allison, author of Radiation and Reason, addressed the people on Japanese television. He proposed that radiation limits be set the same way other such limits are set -- not by seeing how little we can obtain, but what is the maximum we can tolerate, including a generous safety factor. The answer he gets is about 1,000 times the current "permissible limit."

Who gave the radiation police the right to give their particular concern priority over all other considerations? That question is not limited to Japan. A proposed European Community directive dated 17 Oct 2011 notes that the doses of radiation being regulated are small compared to doses people receive in the normal course of living. Instead of reaching the common-sense conclusion that they should therefore stop trying to regulate harmless doses of radiation, they decided they have to regulate Nature! They want us to wage an endless war against our naturally radioactive planet, when there is good evidence that without radiation, Life withers and dies.

Few if any people decide where to live, or how to live, on the basis of radiation level. There is no reason that they should start doing so now. Let the good people of Fukushima return home and get on with their lives!

Oh I see. The author does quote Dr. Allison.

40 comments:

doitujin said...

such a crap, as if all those many moron "experts" inside of japan wouldn't be enough already...

Stock said...

This type of "reporting" or testifying is a crime against humanity.

Yosaku said...

arevamirpal::laprimavera,

The author says "other people are living carefree in places like Norway, Brazil, Iran, India where folks have lived normal lives for countless generations with radiation levels as much as a hundred times greater than the forbidden areas of the Fukushima homes."

Maybe I'm missing something here, but as far as I can tell, this statement is factually correct. For instance, background radiation in Ramsar can be as high as 260 mSv/yr (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11769138). One one-hundredth of that would be 2.6 mSv/yr and even some areas of Okuma-cho that are less than 5 km from the plant would satisfy this (i.e., 3 uSv/h 以下). Presumably, many other areas in the evacuation zone would satisfy this as well.

Yosaku said...

arevamirpal::laprimavera,

Whoops! In my haste, I calculated the numbers for Okuma-cho incorrectly. It would have to be below .3 uSv/hr to hit 2.6 mSv/yr.

My apologies!

Anonymous said...

Yosaku - the operative words are "countless generations." I takes many generations for the blood chemistry to adapt. Also, I might point out the author is referring to background radiation and external exposure. There is no consideration of living in an environment with radionuclides and internalizing them. If the food around you is contaminated you will be as well.

Yosaku said...

arevamirpal::laprimavera,

Following-up on the above, it looks like he may still be technically correct with his "as much as 100 times" language (all it takes is one area in the evacuation zone below .3 uSv/hr), but I agree that he has over-reached here and this statement is misleading.

Sorry for the calculator error on my end.

kintaman said...

Well then maybe the good Dr. Theodore Rockwell could back up his claims by moving himself and his family to live there. I am sure he would have no problem with this as their is no impact to human health for adults or children. I am sure the same goes for Edano and the other politicians and also the so called "experts" who have appeared on TV news so much in Japan proclaiming everything to be safe.

Yosaku said...

Anonymous@8:22,

Yes, but I was trying to disprove Rockwell's statement initially and your two points wouldn't play directly into that analysis.

Anonymous said...

Can someone ask him to come and take a look personally? You know, just to make sure?

Idiot.

The bright side is that when Fukushima goes China Syndrome no one will ever listen to him or these types of "scientists" again.

Mauibrad said...

Check it, building something at Fukushima http://youtu.be/1KZtXI6r4oE

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

@Mauibrad, that's a very interesting vid.

plastc_daruma said...

Yes he should come to Fukushima city with his grandchildren. Eat lots of local food and stay for 5 years. Did you know there are signs in front of parks in Fukushima that say: Do not walk longer than one hour because of radiation danger...

Greenpeace is now DEMANDING evacuation of pregnant women...

Anonymous said...

Countless generations? Now when precisely was the first nuclear reactor built? Methinks in the 1940s. That would make 4 generations at the very most.

He probably thinks that cars have been around for millenia too.

Ignorant, callous and opportunistic.

Apolline said...

Simulation of the arrival of tsunami's debris on west american coast :

http://fukushimaemergencywhatcanwedo.blogspot.com/2011/12/probable-pathways-of-debris-from.html

Anonymous said...

Watch everyone quote that guy as absolute undeniable fact. "Oh, one person on TV said it, so it has to be true!"

Those experts are probably the same people who used connections and money to get their credentials, and now that they're in a good position, are probably receiving payments from their buddies to promote their personal agendas. Nice world we live in.

Anonymous said...

This guy did have one thing to say that piqued my interest : Winter is on its way.

With that will come the Radioactive snow again, which doesn't run away into the drains as fast as water, and tends to hang around awhile.

I remember some of the roads where radioactive snow fell shortly after the fukushima accident were very active at the sides where the snow had accumulated.

Also, try and stop children playing in the snow ;)

Anonymous said...

As for the video with the concrete mixer trucks, maaybe they're trying to fill the basements with concrete to try and prevent the corium from getting to the groundwater ?

Its abvious they are doing something though.

Atomfritz said...

May I point to the fact that this background radiation is caused by radon.

Radon is a noble gas, does not bio-concentrate, does not get incorporated by any significant means, neither by breathing or eating, unlike the contaminants that we have to deal with in Japan.

Furthermore, this is airborne radiation that naturally gets diluted and removed by the wind.
Radon does not stick or form "hotspots" in the sense we know from human-made contamination.

Third, the observed elevated radon background radiation is common in the poorer parts of many cities and villages in Iran, Iraq and Turkey.
The cause is usage of very cheap bricks produced of mining wastes and concrete. So this phenomenon usually doesn't occur in "rich" city quarters.


And, the article tries to compare unrealistic situations.
It is imho not valid to compare the maximum radon concentrations (that are usually found in windowless cellars without air circulation) with the background in areas in which people stay for extended time.

It's so sad.
Many of these people going back into the zone will get sick and die prematurely.
Maybe in later generations these people will be called the "nuclear martyrs" that had to die because of the politicians' ruthless greed.

Anonymous said...

Yosaku,

The average exposure in Ramsar's highest radiation areas is said to be about 10 mSv/yr or just over 1 uSv/hr. Less than 2000 people live in this area so there is a very small sample size of people (if any in actuality) who might be exposed to the quoted 240 mSv/yr max as that's 24 times the average exposure even in the highest radiation areas.

The authors of your linked study point out the small sample size and further point out that their findings conflict with other Iranian research on Ramsar residents and that this needs investigation.

For comparison the air radiation doses in Fukushima city during the race with children taking part was about 1 uSv/hr. And that was from caesium and other nasty meltdown products not radon. Fukushima city was never evacuated even though air readings reached at least 10uSv/hr during the meltdowns. Residents were still living for s time in some areas of the Prefecture at 300 uSv/hr before the evacuation was extended.

simplesanstete said...

This is Dr Strangelove alive & he is not the only one, the promised land of progres seems to have no limit...

Anonymous said...

where are the zombies...the dead and dieing...? there arent any. this is all hype. the people of fuku need to just go home and do what they are told by the gov.

Anonymous said...

yes, all the people who say the radiation levels are safe, that radiation is good, that the solution is to be happy, should lead by example. they should live there, move their family there, have their babies there, eat the food, reside in the homes, or build a new home with bricks made from radioactive sludge.... and, like that female newscaster, they shouldn't be promoting the new "radioactive lifestyle" while deeming themselves above the rest; keeping themselves and their children as far away from it as they can afford.

Anonymous said...

The arrival of radioactive debris - Hawaii is trying to prepare. We are going to have to swim in it; surf in it, eat the fish that feed off it AND clean it up. Why aren't they trying to collect it before it arrives...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiX29bxvkV4&feature=share

Surfrider Kauai is organizing a Japan Tsunami Debris Conference, bringing together experts in the field of ocean currents and debris tracking. Will be held 12/10/11 at Kauai Community College, 9am, and is free. Will be live streamed at Livestream, surfriderkauai.

Anonymous said...

Anything with Dr this or Dr that, that is published by major organized media, is more than likely just pure PROPAGANDA. Best to just ignore it.

PROPAGANDA:
"A form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group."

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 08:53 AM

From March to June this year Japan has had 27,000 excess deaths compared to last year (official provisional stats). Only 17,000 are tsunami/earthquake deaths. That leaves 10,000 excess deaths in 4 months over the same period last year.

Now these figures vary a bit (especially in active flu seasons) but I am just illustrating how you could have thousands of deaths by now and "lose" them in the official stats as "noise". Time will tell if the excess deaths settle back down or continue to grow.

Btw, the government is telling people not to go back to the restricted zones so by your own advice they should "do what they are told by the government" and not go back.

Dr Rockwell is a senile idiot. This is what he said in March

===QUOTE===

http://www.larouchepac.com/node/17736

A lot of wrong lessons are being pushed on us, about the tragedy now unfolding in Japan. All the scare-talk about radiation is irrelevant. There is no radiation danger, there will be no radiation danger, regardless of how much reactor melting may occur. Life evolved on, and adapted to, a much more radioactive planet, Our current natural radiation levels—worldwide—are below optimum. Statements that there is no safe level of radiation are an affront to science and to common sense. The radiation situation should be no worse that from the Three Mile Island incident.

===ENDQUOTE====

So there you have it. No radiation danger and could not be worse then 3 Mile Island. He was totally wrong then as he is now.

Steve From Virginia said...

Just more spam from industry, that is all industry can come up with is lies and more lies.

No difference between Rockwell, Ann Coulter and Julius Streicher and Joseph Goebbels. All argue for the 'benefits' that flow from the machine.

Just feed it your children and tomorrow you will see the promised land ...

Anonymous said...

10,000 excess deathsfrom what...car accidents. heart attacks...means nothing! show me people dieing from radiation....there arent any!

show me images or video of radiation sickness or burns or anything...not any!

Anonymous said...

Did that guy really say it was OK to feed radiation to your kids?

Or is this more spam from the rabidly paranoid fringe, coming up with lies and more lies?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 12:39 PM,

Take a look at this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3WtlWTtdLU

At the start you'll see Plant Director Masao Yoshida. Look at his neck. He has since been medically forced to step down. Thyroid Cancer it seems.

Anonymous said...

Last comment should have been addressed to anon @ 12:30

To anon @ 12:39 - he says that our radiation levels are "BELOW OPTIMUM" therefore he presumably believes that children should be artificially topped up with radiation to do them good.

Anonymous said...

@anon 2:25 and 2:28,

Fascinating that you can diagnose his illness via YouTube. Interestingly enough, thyroid cancer at Chernobyl didn't start showing up until years after the explosion, and mostly in children. So what you are saying is that this old guy in Fukushima got thyroid cancer after just 5 months (since that video you based your diagnosis on was taken in August). Amazing.
Our cup of miracles runneth over.

Did he really say that Fukushima's radiation was below optimum? Did he really say or believe that children's radiation need to be topped up?

Or, could it be that you are fabricating truths to somehow demonize this man?

Anonymous said...

"other people are living carefree in places like Norway, Brazil, Iran, India where folks have lived normal lives for countless generations with radiation levels as much as a hundred times greater than the forbidden areas of the Fukushima homes."

A hundred times greater??

you can check norway out for yourselves!

http://radnett.nrpa.no/

its high because of some "unknown" contamination coming from the east at the moment.. but below 0.12 microsieverts/hr generally.. normal range for coastal areas is about 0.08 microsieverts/hr
see the spectrographic analysis of month duration to see spikes, especially on the west coast.. never listen to a pro nuke scientist, they talk shit!

radon is measurable and is mitigated against by health and safety departments throughout europe. in the small areas that it is found, like basements (leeched in from sorrounding soil especially when the ground is frozen).. these scientists are aware of this, so why do they post such tripe? retorical question...

london too is having high readings! 0.13 microsievert peaking to as high as 0.43 microsievert.. taken 1 meter off the ground

lots of high strong peaks....

somebody burning something?? :(

paper/journals bought by big advertising WPP ADK OGILVY AND MAHER
US Spectator
the new scientist
the bbc
all major publications and tv stations that use advertising revenue
the bbc
not exskf and other blogs like it that distribute "harmful" information
and in the words of george orwell
education education education ... ministry of..

keep up the "harmful" work admin
peace to all here

Anonymous said...

"the east at the moment"" should read west

Anonymous said...

Is that you Mr. Rockwell ???

allison wade said...

no im allison wade! hero of oxford! rockwell is just a young whipper snapper! by jove! but you are a sharp cookie for an anti green energy protester!!

and the reason 100 siverts an hour is good for you is because the background radiation has risen anyway.. some calculations to proove i am actually gods representitive on earth here!!

add 0.03 microsieverts/h because of solar flares (yes, even at night!)
add "allowed releases" from nuclear reactors or green energy establishments, as i like to call them... another 0.03 microsieverts/h...

then go to some thorium ridden place in the middle of nowhere take a reading, then add 0.03 microsieverts/hr

DO NOT LOOK AT THE SPECTROGRAPH ON THIS MAP... because it is wrong.. (annual chart at bottom)

http://radnett.nrpa.no/?id=265049

it should not show a previous accident in 2010, recovery and then coincidentally pushing the background radiation back up to pre 2010 accident levels in errr march/april and currently rising! is someone burning something?
better add another 0.03 microsieverts/hr

oh and radon! shall we say 0.05 as a good average

and 0.01 for bananas (even if they have little MeV cell penetration qualities)

allowable mormal background radiation should be 0.18 microsievert/hr

love you all
please buy my book!!
makes good bog paper!!

geraldine thomas (imperial uni) said...

hi allinson! good to see you read this blog too! good isnt it? did you know that being really fat is equivalent to an equivalent 37485 bananas dose.. i really dont see what all the fuss is about.. the book was great by the way.. now wheres me cigarettes?

gearge monibot (the guardian) said...

allison, geraldine i have something to tell you both.. i am your love child.....!!!!

Anonymous said...

allison wade said...

...
"love you all
please buy my book!!
makes good bog paper!!"

what a fantastic idea. forget about diapers, now here's something TEPCO can use to effectively absorb the water from radioactive puddles.
cuz the book sucks bigtime!

Anonymous said...

5:57, 6:24, 6:38, 6:40, 8:44

LMAO !!!!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
where are the zombies.............. this is all hype. the people of fuku need to just go home and do what they are told by the gov.


Where are the zombies? You answered it with the last sentence of your astute observation.

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