Regarding the July 4 editorial, "Questions about nuclear safety": There was no reason to evacuate Fukushima. The evacuation was caused by overly strict laws, not by radiation. The 1,600 deaths cited in the editorial should be blamed on the overly strict laws that forced the unnecessary evacuation.
Japan is trying to have less radiation than exists in the natural background. That is impossible. Natural background radiation is the radiation that was there before 1945, before 1900 and before 1800 — more than a 1 billion years ago.
The Earth has always been radioactive. It will always be so. I recommend the book "Radiation and Reason: The impact of Science on a Culture of Fear" (2009) by Wade Allison of England (not the Wade Allison at Harvard).
Go to: http://www.radiationandreason.com/
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.