"People claim that intermittent accidents make nuclear power unsafe. No, they don't. Fukushima hasn't caused a single death due to radiation exposure, and experts expect no measurable increase in cancer rates. The supposed "high rates of thyroid abnormalities" that people have been making a big deal about lately are actually no higher than the normal baseline rate for non-exposed parts of Japan.
Even Chernobyl, the only nuclear accident that has ever killed any significant number of people, only caused 64 confirmed deaths in the initial incident and following 20 years. The highest estimate by a credible scientific entity for eventual increases in cancer deaths due to Chernobyl is 60,000, and that was based on the now-discredited Linear no-threshold model for cancer rate estimation. More credible estimates based on our best understanding of radiation dose response puts the cumulative eventual Chernobyl death toll at 4,000."
More here:
http://www.quora.com/Society/What-are-some-policies-that-would-improve-millions-of-lives-but-people-still-oppose#ans3033210
Even Chernobyl, the only nuclear accident that has ever killed any significant number of people, only caused 64 confirmed deaths in the initial incident and following 20 years. The highest estimate by a credible scientific entity for eventual increases in cancer deaths due to Chernobyl is 60,000, and that was based on the now-discredited Linear no-threshold model for cancer rate estimation. More credible estimates based on our best understanding of radiation dose response puts the cumulative eventual Chernobyl death toll at 4,000."
More here:
http://www.quora.com/Society/What-are-some-policies-that-would-improve-millions-of-lives-but-people-still-oppose#ans3033210