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MEDICINE AND THE MEDIA Nuclear panic overshadows Japan’s real plight The earthquake and tsunami have left some 20 000 people dead. Margaret McCartney asks why the media are more concerned with the situation at the Fukushima nuclear plant

Japan is everywhere. Reports from this archipelago reveals for the first time the cause of the think the word is particularly well chosen,’ he 2500 km long have filled the newswires, cables, catastrophic nuclear meltdown.” The theme of a told the European Parliament” (www.bbc.co.uk/ internet, press, and radio since the fifth largest nuclear panic in Japan was taken up by the Daily news/mobile/world-asia-pacific-12749444). earthquake ever recorded struck on 11 March. Mail, which dedicated its front page to a picture Some scientists gave rather more rational risk The quake was followed by a tsunami that hit the of a Japanese woman in a face mask, with the assessments. John Beddington, the UK chief northeast coast. The Red Cross reported on 17 headline “A nation in the grip of nuclear panic— scientific officer, gave an interview on the website March that 4300 people were confirmed dead, Japan’s nuclear disaster spirals out of control of the British embassy in Tokyo: “So what I would but this number is expected to rise to 20 000, amid warnings that it could end in ‘apocalypse.’” really re-emphasise is that this is very problematic with almost half a million people displaced or Unnamed experts “warned that they have 48 for the area and the immediate vicinity and one evacuated. hours to avoid another Chernobyl,” the paper has to have concerns for the people working there. Yet it is not this human disaster that is the said. Beyond that 20 or 30 kilometres, it’s really not an source of ongoing headlines and debate; rather it Sky News joined in, saying, “Japan’s chief issue for health” (http://ukinjapan.fco.gov.uk/en/ is anxiety about two of Japan’s 55 nuclear power cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said radiation news/?view=News&id=566799182). He followed stations, focusing on the Fukushima plant. Five levels outside the 18-mile exclusion zone were this up on his Twitter account, but it seemed to nuclear reactors their cooling ability in the not high enough to cause an immediate health make little impression on the UK media otherwise. earthquake, and a state of emergency was then risk. ‘People would not be in immediate danger if Gerry Thomas, chair in molecular pathology at declared. The Sun newspaper ran a front page they went outside with these levels. I want people Imperial College London, had a wider audience headline superimposed to understand this,’ he when she told Channel 4 News, “Precautions taken on a yellow and black “The psychological damage being told a news conference. so far should be sufficient to protect people near radiation symbol, done now to the Japanese is huge. At However, Mr Edano’s the site. There is no significant release of radiation “ from Tokyo— Chernobyl we told local people that comments have failed to yet; it’s really only the workers that are at risk. 1000s flee poison they would get cancer and die and provide reassurance as We are not looking at an accident anything like cloud,” and declared, thousands of people have Chernobyl.” “Japan is teetering on they are still living with the fact that been cleared from their She continued, “One thing we should have the brink of nuclear we gave them false information” homes, and thousands learnt post-Chernobyl is not to spread panic catastrophe amid fears a more have chosen to and make claims that turn out to be wrong. The radioactive cloud could envelop Tokyo’s 13 million move away from the region surrounding the psychological damage being done now to the residents. The Foreign Office warned Brits to avoid Fukushima plant.” Japanese is huge. At Chernobyl we told local the capital as it was feared a SECOND nuclear described “panic buying in people that they would get cancer and die and they reactor was heading for meltdown after Friday’s Tokyo,” saying that “fears are rising that if the are still living with the fact that we gave them false devastating earthquake and tsunami.” hoarding frenzy continues it will affect the ability information . . . Tens of thousands of people [in The next day the physicist and television to deliver emergency supplies to the disaster Japan] have lost their lives. Even if the worst case presenter Brian Cox wrote a piece for the very zone. ‘The situation is hysterical,’ said Tomonao scenario happened and there was an accident 10 same newspaper: “Damage to nuclear reactors Matsuo, a spokesman for the instant noodle times the size of Chernobyl, you wouldn’t have sounds very frightening—but the first thing to maker Nissin Foods. ‘People feel safer just by as many deaths as that. We are missing the point say is that they just cannot explode like nuclear buying Cup Noodles.’” Most printed photographs here and we are panicking that poor, savaged bombs.” Professor Cox went on, “The only real of Japanese people failed to show much panic, population about radiation that is not going to contamination risk is from small amounts of however, with sadness, social order, and harm them” (www.channel4.com/news/japan- nuclear material being released into the air in this facemasks prominent. nuclear-panic-is-over-reaction-say-scientists). steam. It sounds scary, but the levels of radiation The actual aftermath of the earthquake and Margaret McCartney is a general practitioner, Glasgow released in this way are very small—probably tsunami seemed to have been pushed off the [email protected] about the same as you would expect on a long- front pages while a nuclear “disaster” that hadn’t Competing interests: None declared. distance transatlantic flight.” actually affected any members of the public took Provenance and peer review: Commissioned; not externally peer reviewed. Nevertheless the same newspaper later centre stage instead. The BBC reported, “Europe’s References to the newspaper reports cited are available on reported, with pictures of the damaged reactor, energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger said bmj.com. “Revealed: the stricken reactor spewing Tokyo had almost lost control of the situation at Cite this as: BMJ 2011;342:d1845 radiation,” adding that this “terrifying image Fukushima. ‘There is talk of an apocalypse and I See NEWS, p 676, and BLOG, p 690

686 BMJ | 26 MARCH 2011 | VOLUME 342