Japanese authorities are extending the evacuation zone around the two Fukushima nuclear plants from 10km to 20km, according to local media.
1.) Not trust the government, the plant operator, the plant designer, hell anyone remotely involved. They always downplay whatever is really going on to prevent panic (or divert blame)
2.) Get as far away as possible, preferably in the opposite direction of prevailing winds.
Give me one example of when the government, the plant operator, the plant designer knowingly lied about the situation.
Give me one example of someone who was harmed by Three Mile Island which had a full meltdown with containment. (Chernobyl is irrelevant, it did not have containment.)
Really? People with reputations at stake rarely or never spin information that minimizes impact to their reputations? People with dangerous information rarely or never, rightly or wrongly, minimize the impact of that dangerous information for concern over spreading panic?
Next you'll tell me POTUS never lies, Congress is looking out for our best interests, and nuclear power is essentially 100% safe.
> Give me one example of someone who was harmed by Three Mile Island which had a full meltdown with containment.
http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/history/a/tmi.htm
Quote: A new analysis of health statistics in the region conducted by the Radiation and Public Health Project has, however, found that death rates for infants, children, and the elderly soared in the first two years after the Three Mile Island accident in Dauphin and surrounding counties.
http://www.unc.edu/news/archives/feb97/wing.html
Quote: Exposure to high doses of radiation shortly after the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island may have increased cancer among Pennsylvanians downwind of the plant, scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say.
That's two.
> Chernobyl is irrelevant
Excellent news.
--
Another angle is that the "people that know what they're talking about" very often don't know what they're talking about, particularly in the minutes/hours/days following emergency conditions. TMI timeline:
Scranton held a press conference in which he was reassuring, yet confusing, about this possibility, stating that though there had been a "small release of radiation,... no increase in normal radiation levels" had been detected. These were contradicted by another official, and by statements from Met Ed, who both claimed that no radiation had been released.[21] In fact, readings from instruments at the plant and off-site detectors had detected radiation releases, albeit at levels that were unlikely to threaten public health as long as they were temporary, and providing that containment of the then highly contaminated reactor was maintained.
but as you put it, can we believe this anymore? Yesterday everything was supposed to be under control.
Would be interesing to hear from communication professionals what they think about this.