University of Montana Journalism Professor Denise Dowling and several students are traveling to Japan for what is being termed an environmental writing course, specifically to study the effects of the Fukushima disaster.
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Dowling said their first week will be spent in Tokyo where they will speak with young people who have moved there after being evacuated from Fukushima province . Following that, they will travel to the Fukushima prefecture.
“That will include a tour of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which is still melting down, and we will talk to people who never left, along with people who will be moving back to the area,” she said.
Dowling commented on any concerns for herself and her students about lingering radioactivity.
“I’m not concerned,” she said. “We’ve had experts come and talk to us about the level of radiation that is ongoing there,” she said. “There are people who are living and working in the area and they are not having problems with exposure. Because we’ll only be there for a week, there’s just no chance we’ll have a risk of exposure.”
Dowling said the journalism students will be producing multimedia reports featuring video, audio and still photos in addition to regular posts on Facebook. They will be launching a website specific to the project on Monday, May 15.
Read more at UM Professors – Students To Japan To Study Effects Of Fukushima Disaster
I find the article appalling. It is precisely because we do not know for sure about the relations between radiation there (dosage, internal exposure, recent wildfires,…) and sickness (thyroid cancer and others), we cannot take enough caution especially toward the younger generations. The remarks, “I am not concerned” is highly irresponsible.