It's Hard Not to Fret

When nuclear reactors blow, the first thing that melts down is the truth. Just as in the Chernobyl catastrophe almost 25 years ago when Soviet authorities denied the extent of radiation and downplayed the dire situation that was spiraling out of control, Japanese authorities spent the first week of the Fukushima crisis issuing conflicting and confusing reports. We were told that radiation levels were up, then down, then up, but nobody aside from those Japanese bureaucrats could verify the levels and few trusted their accuracy. The situation is under control, they told us, but workers are being evacuated. There is no danger of contamination, but stay inside and seal your doors.
~ How the “Peaceful Atom” Became a Serial Killer by Chip Ward ~

It is difficult to imagine what life in much of Japan is like right now. For every bit of positive news, it almost always is followed by more negative news. For example, while there has been definite progress in reestablishing electrical power at the crippled nuclear plant, it was announced yesterday that there has been an increase in radiation showing up in the Tokyo water supply.

Concerns about food safety spread Wednesday to Tokyo after officials said tap water showed elevated levels: 210 becquerels per liter of iodine-131 -- more than twice the recommended limit of 100 becquerels per liter for infants. The recommended limit for adults is 300 becquerels...

Of course, after making this announcement, government officials told people not to worry. The levels are still under the safety thresholds.

But the Japanese people DO have a legitimate reason to worry! If we look at the history of nuclear energy accidents, we find that the government (democratic or totalitarian, capitalist, socialist or communist) isn't very forthcoming with accurate information. All of them attempt to minimize the true state of the situation.

It only is years later that we learn that the government consciously misled their own citizens and/or outright lied about serious and devastating problems that they were well aware of. It is not uncommon at all for these distortions and lies to lead to many unneeded deaths and hundreds of thousands of people being placed at a risk for serious short and long-term health problems.

Consequently, if you know that government tends to hedge its bets during crises and yet they are releasing warning after warning, the situation probably is a lot worse than they are letting on! And, in all honesty, there is no way to KNOW how much worse it actually is.

So, you fret...and you fret for good reason!