ISSUE
Friday, August 15, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 72
People in New Zealand do not need to worry about radiation poisoning should a quake-damaged nuclear power plant in Japan suffer catastrophic meltdowns, a nuclear expert says.
Should there be radioactive fallout from the facilities, it would not affect the southern hemisphere, GNS Science senior scientist Bernard Barry told TV3.
Troubles at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in Fukushima province were set in motion when last Friday's magnitude 9 quake and tsunami in Japan's northeast knocked out power, crippling the cooling systems needed to keep nuclear fuel from going into full meltdown even weeks after a reactor shuts down.
There have since been three explosions at the plant, and a fourth reactor has caught fire.
However, even if the reactor cores were to melt and remain within the reactor vessel, consequences for the general population would be minimal, Dr Barry said.
There would be some release of radioactive material in excess of normally acceptable levels but it would be minor compared to the fallout from the Chernobyl, Ukraine, plant in 1986 and not pose a significant public health risk.
People in New Zealand do not need to worry about radiation poisoning should a quake-damaged nuclear power plant in Japan suffer catastrophic meltdowns, a nuclear expert says. Should there be radioactive fallout from the facilities, it would not affect the southern hemisphere, GNS Science senior...
People in New Zealand do not need to worry about radiation poisoning should a quake-damaged nuclear power plant in Japan suffer catastrophic meltdowns, a nuclear expert says.
Should there be radioactive fallout from the facilities, it would not affect the southern hemisphere, GNS Science senior scientist Bernard Barry told TV3.
Troubles at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in Fukushima province were set in motion when last Friday's magnitude 9 quake and tsunami in Japan's northeast knocked out power, crippling the cooling systems needed to keep nuclear fuel from going into full meltdown even weeks after a reactor shuts down.
There have since been three explosions at the plant, and a fourth reactor has caught fire.
However, even if the reactor cores were to melt and remain within the reactor vessel, consequences for the general population would be minimal, Dr Barry said.
There would be some release of radioactive material in excess of normally acceptable levels but it would be minor compared to the fallout from the Chernobyl, Ukraine, plant in 1986 and not pose a significant public health risk.
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