The Fukushima nuclear accidents were indeed a catastrophe, but the damage that was done was caused entirely by a misguided and paranoid human response to nonexistent threats, not by radiation. In the June 17 editorial “Regrettable ‘go’ on reactors,” The Japan Times says operating nuclear power plants in quake-prone Japan could cause “a catastrophe with irreparable damage.”
But it conveniently fails to explain how that could happen. Presumably we all “know” that radiation is a terrible threat. We’re told that the restart of the Oi reactors is irresponsible — one reason being that there is no evacuation plan in place.
Radiation from Fukushima has not killed or injured any resident of the region. Rather, the mass and mandatory evacuation of people within 20 kilometers of the Fukushima plant caused tremendous damage to people’s lives, livelihoods and psyches, and unparalleled economic damage. Some evacuees are said to be on the verge of suicide, depressed that their normal lives were taken from them. Yet, there is no evidence that the evacuation was even necessary.
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