USS Reagan sailors not exposed to high radiation levels in Japan, report finds

[FBaggins]

In a report recently issued to Congress in response to a January directive from defense committees, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Dr. Jonathan Woodson defended the military’s response and said that safeguards, put in place to protect servicemembers, worked. He said any illnesses that sailors have developed are not a result of the Operation Tomodachi relief campaign.

Woodson’s findings were generally in line with previous Navy and Defense Department statements regarding radiation exposure, yet divulged more detail than previously released, including information on potential potable water contamination and ailments.

“There is no objective evidence that the sailors … experienced radiation exposures that would result in an increase in the expected number of radiogenic diseases over time,” Woodson wrote. “The estimated radiation doses for all individuals in the Operation Tomodachi registry, including sailors on the USS Ronald Reagan, were very small and well below levels associated with adverse medical conditions.”

...snip...

Woodson said the rate of cancer in Reagan sailors was actually nearly 50 percent lower than in the control population. There were three cases he identified that could potentially be caused by radiation: two cases of thyroid cancer and one of nonchronic lymphocytic leukemia. “These numbers of cases are not unusual or unexpected among a population of nearly 5,000 individuals,” he wrote, adding that the symptoms developed too soon to be caused by exposure. “The dates of diagnosis for these three cases strongly suggest that these disease processes were initiated well before OT (Operation Tomodachi) and therefore, are not causally related to low-level radiation exposures during OT.”


http://www.stripes.com/news/uss-reagan-sailors-not-exposed-to-high-radiation-levels-in-japan-report-finds-1.293860

[HooptieWagon]

1. I'm skeptical of DoD statements.

They have lied and covered up so many times (Camp Lejune ) we simply cannot accept anything they say as truthful without an independant verification.

[djean111]

2. +1000

[NickB79]

3. I'm sceptical of claims that cancers popped up in a matter of months

Because no cancers, even those caused by radiation exposure, do that.

And many of the other health claims made were not consistent with any known diseases caused by radiation exposure.

[FBaggins]

4. Where would you look for "independant verification"?

Almost all of the relevant data came from the Navy anyway. The specifics of measurements/dosages either came from them or were consistent with them. You could look to independant sources for whether or not those levels could plausibly cause the health problems that are being reported, but those opinions are already available (and agree with what the Navy said).

The only people who disagree are in no way independant - or even qualified to have an opinion on the matter.

There are only three cases that even claim a health impact that has ever been connected to radiation in the past... and none of the three fit the actual events. These cases are all unfortunate souls that are being taken advantage of by an ambulance chaser.