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Will the nuclear disaster effect the 2020 Olympics?

posted by  BarbaraEbara | 7 years, 8 months ago in Art & Culture

It has been 9 years since that nuclear disaster effected Fukushima. I know a lot of people worried for many months after the incident but even now, still there is worry over the radiation and toxicity of the area. Students were tested in 2014 that attended one of Fukushima's High Schools. The concluded that the radiation levels were no higher than those living anywhere else. While this should be enough to ease fears in locals, what about travelers? Will some people avoid the 2020 Olympics because of fears over radiation?


0 | #12918 by  Yubi | 7 years, 8 months ago
For athletes who are afraid of losing their titles in 2020, this could give a good excuse. I remember a few using the air quality of Beijing for the same purpose :-p I was in the organizing committee of a big conference (200 attendees) in 2012, so I have faced this problem. Ground radiation levels in Tokyo are not any different from most major cities in other countries Some cities have higher levels if the ground is granite based). Even if people visit the border of the evacuation zone for an hour, they won't absorb more radiation than they do in a flight from US to Japan. The food, those who are scared can worry. I am sure that the athletes will have all ingredients well-checked, but no one can guarantee that 0% of the food comes from regions close to Fukushima and are completely free of radiation. The evacuation was a good choice to prevent any food being produced there, though. Even then I doubt that eating in these areas for a few weeks could pose any risk. People have a right to worry about their safety, and some of them are paranoid. So, I guess there will be some who won't go see Olympics citing radiation fears. I can also see some Chinese media plotting to spread a few stories when the event is near. All in all, I think the event will go on with no problem. The event that I was involved was much less important, but we had a full house event even in 2012.
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