Mastodawn

Steve Herman Mar 11

The Fukushima natural and manmade disaster (including quake/tsunami), in which 23,000 people died, was one of the most consequential events I covered. It began 15 years ago today. A quake triggered a tsunami, which destroyed a nuclear power plant. Three reactors melted down. The radioactive cleanup could last a century and cost $1 trillion.

SetouchiExplorer

@newsguyusa Edit: the journalist updated his post to make it more accurate. He still bundles up the number of quake+tsunami victims (23,000) and the number of nuclear meltdown victims (roughly zero) and ignores Iwate and Miyagi for some reason, but better than nothing, I guess.

Troed Sångberg Mar 11

Indeed. One person died from Fukushima. Four persons died from the dam that burst. The rest died from "other things" (evacuations etc).

@troed @David @newsguyusa
I am curious about the single (*singular*) person who might have died as a direct consequence of the nuclear plant meltdown. I shall have to look that up. The remaining deaths (*tens of thousands*) in the region that I know about are no mystery.

@troed @David @newsguyusa

Ah ok.

"One worker at the power plant died 4 years later of lung cancer, having been exposed to 74 mSv since the accident. However Geraldine Thomas claimed "there is a vanishingly small chance that this man’s lung cancer was as a result of the radiation he was exposed to".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_nuclear_accident#Fatalities

Fukushima nuclear accident - Wikipedia

David J. Atkinson Mar 11

@troed @newsguyusa @David @jerrej Misinformation.

David J. Atkinson Mar 11

@troed @newsguyusa @David @jerrej

@meltedcheese @troed @newsguyusa @David

Could you please form a coherent sentence?

David J. Atkinson Mar 11

@troed @newsguyusa @David Deaths directly attributed to Fukushima were underreported because Tepco hired shady companies to recruit workers for the initial work. The workers were homeless people who wouldn’t be missed. We’re not even talking about cancer yet , or the thousands of abortions (not exactly deaths, but you know).

Troed Sångberg Mar 11

... and only you know the real numbers?

Gut feelings aren't facts. Feel free to source your claims with reputable sources.

@newsguyusa @David

David J. Atkinson Mar 11

@troed @newsguyusa @David I was there, a scientist working for the US Gov., and on the loop with access to both embassy and military info as it emerged. As you can imagine, the Japanese government wanted to carefully control public information as did TEPCO, and the US respected their wishes. With the US info on one hand and the Japan/Tepco public statements on the other, I’m quite confident in asserting that the situation was considerably more dangerous than was ever revealed. We were given a three day supply of iodine tabs and told to evacuate. So no, I have only my lived experience and information I gained from sources I can’t cite. Not ideal, I understand.

Troed Sångberg Mar 11

You are the source for the claim that Tepco rounded up homeless people for cleanup work who later died?

@newsguyusa @David

David J. Atkinson Mar 11

@troed @newsguyusa @David After so many years, I cannot point you towards the original source. Consider my comment as a potential lead for your own research. TEPCO itself would not be the ones doing this. They hired numerous companies to provide workers. At least one of those companies was reported to have “recruited” the homeless. The degree of persuasion involved is unclear.

SetouchiExplorer

@meltedcheese Why do you repeat the same rumors that have been going on for 15 years?

You know Japan is not a random third world country, the number of deaths, cancers and more is well tracked and documented.

@troed @newsguyusa

SetouchiExplorer

Spoiler alert: the number of cancers among the population that lived around the nuclear plant is now lower than national average because more closely checked and screened (but that doesn't fit certain people's narratives, so they don't bother checking, they prefer remaining vague with some "we're not talking about cancer yet."

Why "yet" exactly? "Yet" was valid 15 years ago, not anymore.

@troed @newsguyusa

David J. Atkinson Mar 12

@David @troed @newsguyusa That’s you, not me talking.

SetouchiExplorer

@meltedcheese That's facts talking.
I know many people have trouble with this nowadays, but facts and opinions are not the same thing.

@troed @newsguyusa

David J. Atkinson Mar 12

@David @troed @newsguyusa Yes, Japan is Japan. I’m not generalizing. There is much to admire and even love. I also know that governments, institutions, and people lie when they think it is necessary

SetouchiExplorer

@troed @newsguyusa The rest died from the Tsunami. That's the real disaster. The one Western media has forgotten because it's less "engaging" than a nuclear accident with zero or close to zero deaths.

Evan Prodromou Mar 11

@David @newsguyusa he's mixing up the tsunami and the nuclear disaster.

SetouchiExplorer

@evan @newsguyusa I know. I'm afraid it's not a mistake.

Evan Prodromou Mar 11

@David @newsguyusa Steve's been posting daily on the Fediverse for years, covering news on every front. I don't think he'd blow that reputation on purpose for one chance to unfairly smear the Japanese nuclear power industry.

SetouchiExplorer

@evan Ok (I don't know him) it's just a weird thing to say and a weird mistake to make. Even more so if you're a journalist.

I wouldn't assume a will to smear a shady Japanese company, but rather anti-nuclear propaganda. These kinds of lies regularly pop up on from Westerners on March 12th, every year.

SetouchiExplorer

@evan Now, I'll gladly accept it as an honest mistake if @newsguyusa edits his post and admits to the mistake as any respectable journalist should and would do.

Evan Prodromou Mar 11

@David @newsguyusa I hope he does! He doesn't seem to be replying here.

SetouchiExplorer

@evan He did. He still leaves some ambiguity and ignores two prefectures for some reasons, but better than nothing, I guess.