Even in the wake of the
Chernobyl, Ukraine,
Three Mile Island, USA, and
Fukushima, Japan nuclear power disasters, the governments of these countries and many others refuse to acknowledge the abundant evidence of damaging environmental impacts; increases in leukemia, thyroid and other cancers; and genetic impacts and birth defects among animals and humans. Instead of adjusting their radiation exposure standards, governments push back with scientifically unsupported assumptions and even
pseudo-scientific platitudes. For example, the U.S. EPA has pushed for
lowering radiation protections in the case of catastrophic releases of radioactivity, even for
sensitive women and children. In Japan, the government is
attempting to force people back to areas of unsafe contamination; and evacuation is under fire as a way to respond to these catastrophes, despite the
protection it offers against latent diseases caused by radiation exposure. Such intransigence begs the question: will individuals be able to take action to protect themselves and others when governments refuse? The proper response to this cynical denial of health impacts is to question whether or not we can allow these nuclear technologies in our midst. The answer is no.
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