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Science with a Skew: The Nuclear Power Industry After Chernobyl and Fukushima

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Gayle Greene
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Greene's article explores more deeply the health dangers facing people exposed to long-term low dosages of radiation, as is inevitable for those near the Fukushima plant. An English professor, Greene developed interested in the health effects of low-level radiation when she authored a biography of the late epidemiologist Alice Stewart, who pioneered research in that field. Greene contends that the global media is downplaying these dangers, and she presents alternate studies that show that exposure to radiation following the Chernobyl disaster caused many medical problems. These extend beyond cancer; every human body system is harmed. She argues the pro-nuclear media in Japan is reluctant to connect Fukushima to Chernobyl because doing so would dampen enthusiasm for building new nuclear plants. The misinformation will exacerbate the dangers for Fukushima residents who may follow their government's lead and conclude that it is medically safe to stay there. Most at risk are fetuses and children, on whom the effects of radiation are much more severe.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 11 , Special Issue S6: Course Reader No. 6. Japan's “Abandoned People” in the Wake of Fukushima , January 2013 , pp. 52 - 68
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013

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