Considering the Coverage of the Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Reactor Breakdowns
Listening to and watching the news, last night and this morning, I’ve heard all kinds of stuff – mainly from reporters who don’t seem to know very much about physics or radiation. (Personal kudos to Anderson Cooper, who seems to have a broader command of the terms and handle on the situation than some of CNN’s designated experts.)
In general, my take on the English media coverage so far is that the New York Times is doing a good job with the physics and the unfolding events in themselves (with the exception of an irrelevant, essentially absurd three paragraphs in a strange piece with quotes from a former astronaut on why we should worry about asteroids hitting the earth that fell into the Sunday Week in Review; don’t know how that got through the editor’s non-panic button); Scientific American has some strong coverage on the matter; Slate has its streaming, distinct slant…
Here in the U.S., yesterday (and perhaps earlier) some people started worrying how this might affect us, here. Some friends have asked me what I think they should do. Supposedly all companies that manufacture potassium iodide pills have sold out. I don’t offer public health advice here, and I won’t comment on the confusing and contradictory published recommendations and doses for potassium iodide which has, if anything, a limited potential to protect people from thyroid cancer.
The sites below are unfortunately limited in the information they provide, and outdated as I considered last weekend, but the sources are comparatively reliable:
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
CDC on Radiation Emergencies
EPA on What You Can Do
FEMA on Nuclear Power Plant Emergency
Radiation Effects Research Foundation (a joint project of the Japanese and U.S. Governments; hat tip to Merrill Goozner for cluing me into this agency’s existence)
The bottom line is that there’s no easy fix, or ready protection from most forms of radioactivity. My personal opinion is that the risks here are low, essentially negligible, and that the reason to watch all of this is to learn how we (in the big sense, including them) can build better, safer energy sources in the future.
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