UN experts begin evaluating effects of Fukushima nuclear disaster

[News_Editor]

UN experts begin evaluating effects of Fukushima nuclear disaster

2012-01-31 05:10:46 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK/VIENNA (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Monday announced that a group of international experts is assessing the radiation damage caused by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan last year.

The group of sixty experts kicked off a week-long meeting in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Monday in order to identity critical gaps in the data which is available, where additional focus is required, and how to ensure the quality and reliability of what the assessment is based on.

"We are putting together a jigsaw puzzle, evaluating the exposures of the general public, of workers, and radiation effects, and looking for the missing pieces," said Wolfgang Weiss, Chair of the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).

The power plant was damaged in March 2011 when a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami struck to eastern coast of Japan. The disaster knocked out water cooling systems at the plant, contaminating air, water, plants and animals with radioactive plumes dozens of kilometers (miles) from the site.

Data is being collected and evaluated from different sources, including Japan, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

A preliminary report about the effects of the nuclear disaster, the worst since Chernobyl, will be released during UNSCEAR's annual meeting which is to be held from May 21 to May 25. A final report is expected to be presented to the UN General Assembly in 2013.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government has asked the IAEA to open an office in Fukushima to assist with the recovery efforts. "The IAEA is giving careful consideration to a request from Japan to open an office in Fukushima, but nothing has been decided yet," an IAEA spokesperson said on Monday. "The IAEA will consult as necessary on this matter."

At least 15,845 people were killed as a result of the earthquake and tsunami while 3,380 others remain missing. There are still tens of thousands of people who are staying in shelters in 21 prefectures across Japan.

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