Chernobyl clean up person to Japanese: Run Away as fast a possible.

When reading about the burns on the feed of the workers in Fukushima Daiichi, I remembered reading this report last week about Natalia Manzurova, one of the few survivors among those directly involved in the long cleanup of Chernobyl. Her advice was heartfelt, but perhaps not possible for all the Japanese affected – “Run away as fast as possible”

Dana Kennedy interviewed Manzurovna and she said some quite amazing things, which I think we will see borne out over time:

Every nuclear accident is different, and the impact cannot be truly measured for years. The government does not always tell the truth. Many will never return to their homes. Their lives will be divided into two parts: before and after Fukushima. They’ll worry about their health and their children’s health. The government will probably say there was not that much radiation and that it didn’t harm them. And the government will probably not compensate them for all that they’ve lost. What they lost can’t be calculated.

Run away as quickly as possible. Don’t wait. Save yourself and don’t rely on the government because the government lies. They don’t want you to know the truth because the nuclear industry is so powerful.

But didn’t you realize the danger and want to leave?

Yes, I knew the danger. All sorts of things happened. One colleague stepped into a rainwater pool and the soles of his feet burned off inside his boots. But I felt it was my duty to stay. I was like a firefighter. Imagine if your house was burning and the firemen came and then left because they thought it was too dangerous.

We will undoubtedly see a large rise in thyroid cancer and birth defects in Japan. Inevitably a swath of land around the plant will be a permanent no-go zone. In a few years disaster tourism will come to the area. A memorial site will be erected for the dead. Japan’s food exports will continue to be low for a very long time. Fishing off of Japan will be affected and the dairy industry of the north will be decimated. There may be no agriculture from the Fukushima Prefecture for 30 years or longer.