Nuclear radiation is not a problem

Aug 24, 2011 Letters

Dear Editor,
In reference to Mr. Ryan Waldron’s August 22 letter, as a Guyanese living in Japan I wish to respond in an effort to quell some of the fears that Guyanese consumers may legitimately have.
When one thinks about radiation and nuclear power it is quite normal for paranoia to step in and I had my bouts with that after the March 11 tsunami. In fact I contemplated returning to Guyana as a precaution but opted to travel around South East Asia instead.
The truth is radiation is always present in some form or the other and if one takes it seriously then the only thing you can do is live in the Amazon with absolutely no technology.
Many countries around the world have begun conducting radiation tests and it’s not limited to the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia but nations as far away as Kenya and I read of Barbados recently as well.
It came as no surprise to me that all of these tests have turned up negative or below the accepted levels but they were done merely to reassure customers since experts have publicly declared that these tests are not an absolute necessity.
The fact is that persons outside of Japan are oblivious to the facts on the ground. The Japanese government has imposed a distance of a 30km exclusion zone around the Fukushima Nuclear Plant facility and most used cars are shipped out of Japan from the major ports in the Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo areas with the closest of these in the Tokyo area being 200 miles from the nuclear power plant in question.
Although radiation doses right next to the nuclear plant have been high on occasion, the substances released have a short half-life, which means that they quickly lose their ability to produce radiation. Outside of the 30km exclusion zone there has been nothing registered beyond very negligible changes.
Another thing to bear in mind is that the prevailing weather patterns would usually blow any substances that have been released out over the Pacific. This is almost the exact opposite direction to where most cars are being shipped out of.
Nonetheless, it is routine for cars to be washed and plastic wrapped prior to shipping. So the risk that radioactive material could be deposited on your car is minimal.
In my opinion, any investment in radiation testing equipment would be a waste of valuable resources and would be better used by the government for some other socially beneficial purpose.
By the way would I be tested, scanned and quarantined for radiation on my return to Guyana?
Dr. Devon Dublin

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