FBaggins is correct that we don't need to accept the word of TEPCO or the Japanese Government.
Independent scientists from the USA have been studying and measuring the radiation from the very beginning.
The US national laboratories report to President Obama on their assessments. You can read what US scientists are doing at:
https://str.llnl.gov/JanFeb12/sugiyama.html
http://www.anl.gov/articles/argonne-team-helps-map-fukushima-radiation-release
http://www.ne.anl.gov/jp/fukushima-facts-and-myths.shtml
http://www.ne.anl.gov/jp/index.shtml
The media seems to focus on the "self-styled" scientists that are out to sensationalize the whole incident, and the media covers them because they like sensationalism.
However, I believe the denizens of DU would rather have accurate information rather than trumped up garbage designed to frighten and outrage people. That's why I believe the DU readers would rather read what the real scientists that have experience in the field are saying.
The real scientists are interested in getting out the scientific truth, and they are not part of a conspiracy.
Additionally, people have to learn how much radiation they are exposed to just because they live on this planet. I like to analogize it to germs. People don't believe that the natural world is sterile and if someone released a small amount of germs that would constitute a major health risk. We have immune systems that handle the much larger onslaught from Mother Nature's germs.
Likewise, people have to learn how much radiation they are already exposed to, and the same radiation DNA damage repair mechanism that we all have as part of our biological machinery that copes with the much larger onslaught of radiation from Mother Nature, will also handle the marginal increases due to Fukushima, in stride.
PamW
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