Bullshit reporting about Fukushima 18x higher than previously estimated (alarmist spoiler alert)

[kristopher]

28. "previous similar events have not been rated"

Last edited Tue Sep 3, 2013, 04:03 PM - Edit history (1)

The main point of the OP is that people are overstating the problem. In light of that what struck me was the quote from the IAEA that wt uses to defend that position

Last week's spillage was "the most recent of a number of events that involved leakage of contaminated water...Previous similar events were not rated on the INES scale. The Japanese Authorities may wish to prepare an explanation for the media and the public on why they want to rate this event, while previous similar events have not been rated."

The IAEA cautioned against the frequent use of INES evaluations in the future, saying this risked clouding the issue in the public mind.

"One possible communication strategy, rather than using INES as a communication tool to rate each event in series of similar events, would be to elaborate an appropriate communication plan to explain the safety significance of these types of event" ..."This would avoid sending confusing messages to the media and the public on a possibly long series of INES-rated events at the lower levels of the scale, for the duration of the entire recovery operation"...

What is the purpose of the INES scale if not to keep the public informed with information that is placed into a relevant perspective by the use of the scale?

If that is true, then what the IAEA seems to be doing is taking TEPCO to task for giving the public information in the manner that has (during the planning phase for this type of disaster) been deemed most appropriate. The IAEA seems to be suggesting that the earlier approach TEPCO employed of NOT telling the public about the severity of "previous similar events" is preferred.

Is that how you parse their comment?


Edited to add the entire quoted remarks from the IAEA in the AFP article at http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/world/18693612/japan-should-stop-confusing-messages-on-fukushima-iaea/