theGIST Issue 12

Science in the Spotlight
tinction; their numbers have been
increasing ever since [14].
The legacy beyond the bounds
of the exclusion zone is more complicated.
In Sweden, food produce
from the area was affected, and
thousands of reindeer were culled
in the years following Chernobyl
[15]. Over thirty years later, the radiation
levels for some products
are still returning to normal. As
Spiderman learned the hard way,
with great power comes great responsibility.
And when it comes to
nuclear power, failing to respect
that responsibility can lead to dire
consequences.
We are still learning to respect
it. Tokyo Electric Power failed to
take appropriate safety measures
ahead of the 2011 tsunami in Japan,
ultimately playing a role in Japan's
worst ever reactor meltdown
at Fukushima [16]. But in responding
to nuclear catastrophe,
we've learned from the past and,
in some instances, potentially even
over-reacted. Following the
Fukushima incident, some estimates
believe that mass-evacuations
may have led to more
deaths than low-level radiation exposure
would have caused if
people had remained in their
homes. Recently, efforts to prove
the safety of food produced in the
area have caused controversy, and
there has been a furore over the
possibility of 'radioactive food' being
served to athletes at the Tokyo
Olympic Games [17]. However,
thousands of food samples from
the region have passed safety
checks, and the Japanese government
has even stricter standards
than the UK and US for allowable
levels of radiation in food production.
Nuclear fear-mongering may
be detrimental to Japanese agriculture
for years to come.
Chernobyl is an undoubtedly
compelling TV drama, but it's useful
to remember that it is just a
drama. Nuclear energy is controversial
for good reason, but we
may struggle to meet energy targets
without investing in it; the
Chernobyl miniseries certainly
won't help to sway public opinion
toward this option. The show repeatedly
asks "what is the cost of
lies?" and we may need to consider
what we mean by this in relation
to nuclear energy in 2020.
The cost of spreading panic and
continuing to rule out nuclear energy
may be higher than we bargained
for.
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