To clarify farther on "dangers". Yes there are vastly different estimates and stats coming out from even top nuclear scientists. Just like anything deemed carcinogenic... it takes and will take generations of statistics to actually prove facts and even then..so many flaws in those stats.
I am not particularly alarmed by background radiation at 100km from the plant as of today. It's within acceptable range here so far. Of course this may change any minute which is why we have to keep tabs of what is happening with leakage, steam, release and news at the plant every day.
What is worrying is that radioactive fall out particles have definitely entered the food chain. How I would love my own test kit to test vegetables and water myself but apparantly the kind of sophisticated equipment needed to test these kinds of toxins are incredibly expensive and also sold out in Japan ..the only way to access them is via nuclear science laboratories at the main Universities in the area. One such department did test spinach here and found radioactive levels of toxins to be higher than normal...this should really have resulted in a wide scale inspection but the Mayor of Sendai is refusing to test all food products..yes, an enormous task and an expensive one and.......... the results of which could totally destroy the economy within days. Meanwhile we are expected to believe the contamination will cause no damage to our health.
It is so much easier to believe what we are told by the govt. That there is nothing to fear right now. ..(they always stress 'right now' on TV which is ominous). Should we just sit back and try to repair as best we can in small ways and get on with our lives and work? It hurts to think of all the wonderful people here I know who are doing just that.And there are merits to it, it isn't that I feel critical of this approach. It is just that this approach should ideally be one taken after all sides are weighed and I don't think that is what is happening because of the covering up of key facts and info.
So buying food here has become a time consuming event. One woman I know is only buying food that was produced before March 11 and is spending almost all her free time online tracking products and researching such products to then order. I am personally trying to buy food and drinks from Hokkaido or Kyushu down south or far north, just because soil in these areas cannot yet have been affected.Where possible, of course it's impossible to do 100%. It's expensive not to buy local products. Imported products are sold out fast too. Who knows what is going into restaurant food, and take outs, or ready to eat convenience foods. The idea of going out to eat makes me feel nauseus these days.
I heard some cows from near Fukushima have been killed and the meat has been sold on the black market. I don't know if this is true. It may be rumor. Milk and dairy products from Fukushima were halted immediately which was a good move but wind carries rain some distance and rain falls on soil and cows and animals eat the grass grown on that soil and then their produce is sold.
Yes, things could be a lot worse here. Indeed they may still become so.There are those affected far worse than us and with fewer options. Can't forget that.
Meanwhile what I would give right now for a huge big fresh, safe, spinach and cabbage salad :p
