Fukushima and Chernobyl caused millions of deaths

WHO has estimated about 8,000 potential deaths due to radiation at Chernobyl. As for Fukushima, UNSCEAR does not expect any detectable increase in cases of cancer or mortality due to radiation exposure given the low doses received.

After these accidents, some claimed that there were tens or hundreds of thousands of fatalities. While these accidents undoubtedly disrupted the lives of the populations concerned, scientific studies have not demonstrated such a massive health impact due to radiation exposure.

The case of Chernobyl

For Chernobyl (1986), the UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Ionizing Radiation) reports 2 immediate deaths and 28 within 4 months of the accident, all among plant workers and firefighters exposed to extremely high levels of radiation; a 31st person (firefighter) died in 2004.  Of the 600 workers at the site on the day of the accident, 103 others had acute radiation syndrome; only those who received the highest doses developed leukemia or cataracts.

In 2005, the report of the Chernobyl Forum (UN agencies) projected up to 4,000 future deaths from radiation-induced cancer among the ~600,000 most exposed people: liquidators, evacuees, and residents of the most contaminated areas. A similar number of deaths was expected among non-evacuated inhabitants living in areas contaminated to more than 37 kBq per m² [1][3], but the Forum concluded that it would be impossible to distinguish cancers due to Chernobyl because of the small percentage compared to the general incidence (less than 1%). [3]

One exception: a statistically significant increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer was observed among children and adolescents near the plant who were exposed to the Chernobyl Cloud (Iodine-131) in 1986. By 2015, approximately 20,000 cases had been detected, of which some 5,000 are considered to be the result of exposure (dose level, characteristics). As of 2005, only 15 deaths [4] were attributed to the accident.

Fukushima: direct and indirect consequences

As for the Fukushima accident in 2011, the Japanese government reports 2 direct fatalities due to injuries among workers. Approximately 2,300 deaths are attributed to the effects of evacuation, 90% of which involved people over the age of 66 - mainly due to stress and health complications related to displacement and living in temporary shelters. [5]

UNSCEAR concluded in 2013 that, given the low level of doses to the population, it will be impossible to detect health effects associated with exposure caused by the Fukushima nuclear accident.