|
Over Half Of Fukushima
Residents 'Greatly Worried' About Health After Nuclear
Crisis
Fukushima Nuclear Crisis
EMF Computer Protection
Magnetic Field Detector
Over half of Fukushima Prefecture's residents worry greatly
about their health due to the ongoing nuclear crisis at the
crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, a Mainichi
Shimbun poll has indicated.
The survey, conducted on March 3 and 4, covered all
prefectures across Japan including Iwate, Miyagi and
Fukushima prefectures, which suffered the most damage in the
Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11 last
year. It found that 54 percent of residents in Fukushima
Prefecture were "greatly worried" about the potential health
effects of radioactive materials from the nuclear plant --
twice the national average of 27 percent.
In Miyagi Prefecture, 35 percent of residents were "greatly
worried," compared with 31 percent in Iwate Prefecture.
Combining the percentages of those who were either "greatly
worried" or "somewhat worried" about their health, the
figure for Fukushima Prefecture reached 83 percent -- 10
points above the national average of 73 percent. The
corresponding figure for Iwate Prefecture stood at 74
percent, followed by Miyagi Prefecture at 71 percent. Many
residents in the disaster-stricken regions were apparently
anxious due to a lack of information from the government.
The ratio of residents with such fears stood at 65 percent
in Hokkaido and 63 percent in the Kinki region in western
Japan.
By gender, 68 percent of men and 76 percent of women in the
survey were concerned about their health due to the nuclear
crisis, while 70 percent of men and 81 percent of women in
Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures harbored such fears.
By age, those in their 20s were the least concerned about
their health both in terms of the national average and in
the three disaster-stricken prefectures.
Responding to a question on whether they think the central
government has been sufficiently
disclosing information on the nuclear disaster, an
average of 70 percent of respondents in the three
disaster-hit prefectures said they believed the government
was "hiding" information -- roughly on par with the national
average of 71 percent. By prefecture, 75 percent of
residents in Fukushima Prefecture expressed similar distrust
in the government, followed by Miyagi Prefecture at 70
percent and Iwate Prefecture at 60 percent.
Even among those who are in favor of restarting nuclear
plants under suspension for regular inspections, an average
of 6 percent of all respondents said they believed the
government has been disclosing sufficient information on the
nuclear disaster, compared with 7 percent in the three
disaster-stricken prefectures. Among proponents of nuclear
plant reactivation, an average of 66 percent (62 percent in
the three disaster-affected prefectures) said they believed
the government is "hiding" information on the nuclear
crisis.
Among those in the three affected prefectures who were
"greatly concerned" with their health, 86 percent of
respondents said they think the government is concealing
information on the nuclear disaster. Nationally, an average
of 85 percent of those who are "greatly concerned" with
their health said the government is keeping information on
the disaster secret from the public.
(Mainichi Japan) March 9, 2012
http://www.emfnews.org/store |
