U.N. to study health effects of Fukushima nuclear accident
Apr. 7, 2011
The United Nations will look into health effects of the Fukushima nuclear accident in disaster-hit Japan, a senior official said Wednesday.
Within two years, the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation will compile a report on such key issues as environmental impact and health risks of the accident, Wolfgang Weiss, chair of the committee, said at a press conference.
The committee will also check the health of workers, who are currently fighting to solve the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and are exposed to high levels of radiation, Weiss said.
According to Weiss, details about the plan are currently being worked out and negotiations with the Japanese government on the issue have already started.
He also said that off-site consequences of the accident in Fukushima Prefecture can be rated somewhere between the 1986 nuclear accident in Chernobyl and the 1979 Three Mile Island accident.
''It is not as dramatic as Chernobyl, but it is certainly much much more serious than in Three Mile Island,'' he said, adding that it is very difficult to foresee the consequences of the Fukushima accident since the crisis is still ongoing.
Also it would be hard to make an assessment on the current situation, Weiss suggested, saying, ''The information we are getting is far from pointing out a picture which we would need to make an immediate assessment.''
''We don't always have the information we would like to have. Measurements are patchy and unclear.''
(Distributed by Kyodo News on April 6, 2011)
Within two years, the U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation will compile a report on such key issues as environmental impact and health risks of the accident, Wolfgang Weiss, chair of the committee, said at a press conference.
The committee will also check the health of workers, who are currently fighting to solve the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and are exposed to high levels of radiation, Weiss said.
According to Weiss, details about the plan are currently being worked out and negotiations with the Japanese government on the issue have already started.
He also said that off-site consequences of the accident in Fukushima Prefecture can be rated somewhere between the 1986 nuclear accident in Chernobyl and the 1979 Three Mile Island accident.
''It is not as dramatic as Chernobyl, but it is certainly much much more serious than in Three Mile Island,'' he said, adding that it is very difficult to foresee the consequences of the Fukushima accident since the crisis is still ongoing.
Also it would be hard to make an assessment on the current situation, Weiss suggested, saying, ''The information we are getting is far from pointing out a picture which we would need to make an immediate assessment.''
''We don't always have the information we would like to have. Measurements are patchy and unclear.''
(Distributed by Kyodo News on April 6, 2011)
