Why the Failure to Contain Fukushima Radiation Matters

I just read a very interesting Forbes article that compared the effectiveness of the radiation containment efforts following the atomic bomb testing in Utah during the 1950s, to the Fukushima disaster in 2011. One was successful and one was not. Can you guess which is which?

Why Japan Failed in Its Efforts to Contain Radiation from the Fukushima Meltdown

First off, in comparing Fukushima to Utah circa 1950, it’s important to note that in both cases, there has not been any measurable negative health impacts. The difference between the two, as pointed out in the article, relates to the response. And for one, the response was laced in fear.

With Fukushima, it was fear that killed 1,600 people, not radiation, and the fear manifested itself in the response. In Utah, residents were advised to shelter in place. That worked, and no one was harmed.

Conversely, in Japan, people were told to evacuate, and the evacuation was hastily and, subsequently, poorly done. Unbelievably, this is what killed all of those people. And hundreds of thousands more were negatively impacted.

This got me thinking about my philosophies and experiences around emergency preparedness. It is just so darn important to incorporate strategies and processes into emergency plans that are designed to reduce fear. Things like publishing reassuring press releases, holding CEO press conferences, developing proper customer service scripting, and similar tactics go a long way toward optimizing the perceptions of customers, regulators and stakeholders.

Not only does fear feed negative perceptions and increased scrutiny, it can also lead to an incredible downward spiral from a decision-making standpoint. As the article states, “the Fukushima response is one of the greatest bureaucratic, regulatory and administrative failures in history in which science was trumped by fear.” Yikes.

The bottom line is that whether we’re talking about being prepared for storms, forest fires, earthquakes or radiation, it is absolutely critical to think about ways to reduce fears during response efforts.