Nuclear Power: Risks and Consequences + Helen Caldicott on Fukushima + Three Mile Island: The Controversy Continues

Dandelion Salad

Image by SandoCap via Flickr

linktv on Oct 28, 2011

(Earth Focus: Episode 32) Nuclear Power: Risks and Consequences, an original Earth Focus investigative report, looks at the untold stories behind three of the world’s largest nuclear disasters: Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. According to government and industry officials, no one died as a result of Three Mile Island and only low doses of radiation — equivalent to a single chest XRay were released. But many local residents disagree and cite medical evidence that radiation released from the Three Mile Island reactor was severe enough to cause disease and death. It’s been 30 years but the controversy continues. Chernobyl was the worse nuclear disaster in history. A new book, Chernobyl: Consequences of a Catastrophe says that almost a million people died as a result of the nuclear accident — not 4,000 as The World Health Organization and the International Atomic Energy Agency claim. A screw up or a coverup? Earth Focus looks at evidence that links radioactive exposure to diminished intelligence, premature aging and a variety of other health conditions. Given the severity of the accident in Fukushima and the inability of the government to provide action to safeguard large portions of its population, the Japanese government moved the goal posts on what is considered safe radiation exposure for children and nuclear workers. Japanese organized crime, the Yakuza, is now becoming actively involved in the cleanup of radioactive waste.

Nuclear Power: Risks and Consequences

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linktv on Oct 28, 2011

Earth Focus: Australian physician, author, and anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott discusses with Earth Focus correspondent Miles Benson what the Fukushima disaster really means for the health and future of the people of Japan. Dr. Caldicott also explains the links between nuclear power and public health in the United States and Europe. Dr. Caldicott received her medical degree from the University of Adelaide Medical School. In 1977, she joined the staff of Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston and taught pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School from 1977 to 1978. She served as President of Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization of 23,000 doctors committed to educating others on the dangers of nuclear energy from 1978-1983. She also worked to establish similar groups focused on education about the risks of nuclear energy, nuclear weapons and nuclear war. One such group, International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. She is the author of seven books including: Nuclear Madness (1979); Missile Envy (1984); If You Love This Planet: A Plan to Heal the Earth (1992 and 2009); The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush’s Military Industrial Complex (2001 and 2004) and Nuclear Power is Not the Answer to Global Warming or Anything Else (2006). The Smithsonian Institution named Dr. Caldicott as one of the most influential women of the 20th century.

Dr. Helen Caldicott on Fukushima and the Perils of Nuclear Power

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linktv on Oct 28, 2011

Earth Focus: Three Mile Island. The worse nuclear accident in US history. The government and industry position hasn’t changed in 30 years. Officials say the amount of radiation released from the plant during the 1979 disaster was small — the maximum anyone could have received was equivalent to a chest X-Ray. But there is medical evidence to prove otherwise. According to Dr. Steven Wing of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, cancers in local residents were elevated under the path of the radioactive plume that escaped from the plant. Symptoms of radiation exposure were severe and there were chromosomal abnormalities reported in people even 15 years after the event.

Three Mile Island: The Controversy Continues

see

Chris Busby: Nuclear Industry Cover Up of Massive Radiation from Fukushima + Thousands Protest Nuclear Power In Tokyo

Dr. Michio Kaku: Fukushima and radiation in food supply, interviewed by Cindy Sheehan

Dr. Helen Caldicott: The Real Dangers of Nuclear Power and Nuclear War

People died at Three Mile Island by Harvey Wasserman + Original CBS Report 3.30.79