PSR Report: U.S. First Responders, Medical Infrastructure not Prepared for Fukushima-Level Reactor Crisis in the United States
One Year After Japanese Disaster, Little or No Movement Seen in U.S.
to Improve Response Capability; Complicating Factors: Growing
Population Near Nuclear Sites, Aging Reactors & Lack of Gov't
Coordination.
WASHINGTON, March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- One year after the Fukushima reactor crisis in Japan,
no meaningful progress has been achieved in improving the ability of
first responders and medical professionals to react to a disaster on a
similar scale in the United States, according to a major new report from Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR).
To underscore their point, PSR representatives participated in a news
conference with a Japanese first responder from Fukushima and a second
Japanese expert on the nuclear power industry in that nation.
Titled
"Nuclear Power And Public Health: Lessons From Fukushima, Still Dangerously Unprepared,"
the PSR report notes: "Existing U.S. emergency preparedness
drills do not consider prolonged station black out, severe regional
natural disasters, or multi reactor events … The U.S. has not developed
the capability to inform and direct emergency personnel and the public
in real time during an unfolding severe event, regarding actual
radiation levels, plume directions, food and water safety, timely
distribution of stable potassium iodide, or the rationale of
sheltering-in-place advisories to the public."
|
No comments:
Post a Comment