I was struck by the announcement of the re-opening of the Sendai nuclear power plant in Japan. This is the first to re-open since the horrific Tsunami in Japan and subsequent Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in March 2011.
Exposure to increased levels of radiation from nuclear accidents, such as Chernobyl in 1986, is known to increase the chance of thyroid cancer, especially in children and adolescents.
Even though I have experienced an earthquake that caused significant damage and loss of life in Christchurch, intensely painful though that was, I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for those in Japan who lived through what they did in 2011. It's too early to tell how many people in Japan will develop thyroid cancer as a result of the Fukushima accident.
My thoughts are with them today.
Exposure to increased levels of radiation from nuclear accidents, such as Chernobyl in 1986, is known to increase the chance of thyroid cancer, especially in children and adolescents.
Even though I have experienced an earthquake that caused significant damage and loss of life in Christchurch, intensely painful though that was, I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for those in Japan who lived through what they did in 2011. It's too early to tell how many people in Japan will develop thyroid cancer as a result of the Fukushima accident.
My thoughts are with them today.