The Ram,
"Although radiation escaping from a nuclear power plant catastrophe can increase the risk for many cancers and other health problems, stress, anxiety and fear ended up in many ways being a much greater long-term threat to health and well-being in Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and other nuclear accidents, experts said Monday"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/14/AR2011031405086.html
There is no compelling evidence that this will be as bad as Chernobyl. It will very likely that it will not be.
From memory at Chernobyl: 56 people died within the first few weeks (mostly plant operators and fire crew). There are several thousand excess cases of thyroid cancer and a number of deaths. That is about it aside from anxiety and depression.
No reliable evidence for increase in any other cancers. Several thousand people MAY die from cancer ultimately, though this is looking increasingly unlikely as time goes on.
In all likelihood this is very much a worst case outcome in Japan. But the Japanese have had much more time to react than what was possible at Chernobyl so it would be extremely surprising to see health outcomes like Chernobyl even in the worst possible outcome at the nuclear power plant.
"Although radiation escaping from a nuclear power plant catastrophe can increase the risk for many cancers and other health problems, stress, anxiety and fear ended up in many ways being a much greater long-term threat to health and well-being in Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and other nuclear accidents, experts said Monday"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/14/AR2011031405086.html
There is no compelling evidence that this will be as bad as Chernobyl. It will very likely that it will not be.
From memory at Chernobyl: 56 people died within the first few weeks (mostly plant operators and fire crew). There are several thousand excess cases of thyroid cancer and a number of deaths. That is about it aside from anxiety and depression.
No reliable evidence for increase in any other cancers. Several thousand people MAY die from cancer ultimately, though this is looking increasingly unlikely as time goes on.
In all likelihood this is very much a worst case outcome in Japan. But the Japanese have had much more time to react than what was possible at Chernobyl so it would be extremely surprising to see health outcomes like Chernobyl even in the worst possible outcome at the nuclear power plant.