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Photo Gallery 'People Have To Decide for Themselves Whether to Stay or Leave'

Japanese scientist Shunichi Yamashita is a leading expert on the effects of nuclear radiation. In a SPIEGEL interview, he discusses his work in communicating the potential dangers of exposure to residents living near the Fukushima nuclear plant. The professor says that many suffer from severe radiation anxiety.
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A baby undergoes a check for radiation in Fukushima City in this archive photo from March 24. In an interview with SPIEGEL, radiation expert Sunichi Yamashita commented on the hysteria surrounding the debate over what levels of exposure are actually potentially dangerous. "It mades me sad that people believe gossip, magazines and even Twitter," he said.

REUTERS
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Yamashita, pictured here, has been commissioned by the Fukushima prefecture to study the long-term effects of radiation exposure following the March nuclear catastrophe. He claims that the poor handling of the disaster by nuclear plant operator Tepco and the Japanese government has created an atmosphere of distrust that is making it difficult to gain the support of locals for his research. "Without their support, we cannot do anything," he said.

Cordula Meyer/ DER SPIEGEL
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A new cover is being built for the No. 1 plant at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant. Yamashita says he does not believe there will be any direct effect of radiation for the population in Japan. "The doses are too small," he said.

REUTERS/Tokyo Electric Power Co
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The nuclear explosion in Nagasaki, Japan, on August 6, 1945. Yamashita has also studied the long-term effects of radiation exposure in the victims of that nuclear strike. He hopes his experiences studying Nagasaki and later Chernobly will help him gain acceptance among the populace at Fukushima.

DPA/ DANA