Former Top IAEA Official: Actually, Fukushima “is a catastrophe for every citizen of the world… radiation doesn’t recognize borders”

Interview with Olli Heinonen, former IAEA deputy director general, former Finland Reactor Laboratory senior officer and senior fellow at Harvard University (emphasis added): “[We] have a potential catastrophe on our hands… I think that when this thing is over — this is certainly a national catastrophe for Japan — but actually this a catastrophe for every citizen of the world… Russians, Americans, they are also subject radiation. The radiation doesn’t recognize borders… It looks to be a very dire situation.”

United Nations (pdf), 2014: Estimated doses in the first year following the [Fukushima] accident

> Italy — External exposure, inhalation and ingestion of 131I, 134Cs, 137Cs

• 1-year-old: 180 microsieverts/year
• Adult: 35 microsieverts/year
• Very conservative assumptions were applied as the highest concentration values measured for each radionuclide in rainwater were used to calculate the dose from ingested water.

> Serbia — Effective doses from 131I concentrations in food, milk, air and rainwater

• Adult estimated effective dose: 7.2 microsieverts/month
• [Does NOT include: Inhaled 134Cs/137Cs; Ingested 134Cs/137Cs; External doses]

Nuclear Physics Workshop (pdf), Apr. 12, 2014: Data discussed in the present work includes the observations of Fukushima related radionuclides in… Italy… [transported] from Japan, across the Pacific and to Central Europe… Estimated committed doses for population related to the contributions of Fukushima fallout due to different pathways were at least one order of magnitude [i.e. around ten times] less of the limit of 1 [millisievert a year] even if the calculations are made using high conservative assumptions… caesium and iodine were found above their detection limits in all environmental samples, but well below levels of concern.

Dr. Steve Wing, Univ. of North Carolina epidemiologist: “What we know about radiation is any amount increases risk of cancer… [At Fukushima] there’s a spectrum of types of radiation being emitted… Risks to populations exposed will play out over the rest of their lives. Even after the radiation is gone, genetic damage could lead to cancer many years later.”

• See also: Scientist: Gov’t estimated California had 5 microsievert Fukushima radiation dose– I’m not going to say it’s low, risk of health effects ‘not zero’ (VIDEO)
• And: US gov’t estimated 40,000 microsievert thyroid dose for California infants from Fukushima — Data not released to public — “Very high doses to children”

Watch the interview with the former IAEA deputy director here