See radiation hormesis.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2926/is-exposure-to-small-amounts-of-radiation-beneficial
Radium water tonics and such were sold in the 1920s as cures for all manner of ailments but were dismissed as quackery. A few researchers began to take another look in the 1970s, but only in the last decade or so has the idea of radiation hormesis begun to attract wide attention. For example, a 2004 study claimed more than 10,000 Taiwanese accidentally exposed for a decade or more to radioactive recycled steel used in building construction showed much lower than expected rates of cancer and congenital heart defects. The cancer rate, for example, was 3.5 cases per 100,000, compared to a normal 116 — this despite the fact that they'd gotten a pretty stiff dose of radiation, more than 1,000 times normal. A follow-up study clarified that while cancer risk declined overall, incidence of leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and thyroid cancer went up.
The question here is: The govt ordered these people to stay in their homes 3 days ago. When exactly is it going to tell them that they can come out? And when they do, are they going to be exposed to even stronger radiation?
Yeah, that sounded like a bad call to me too as soon as I heard it. Maybe that is partly why Jaczko shot his mouth off to Congress on Wednesday about the 50 mile advisory limit for US citizens, sounds like a better idea than getting trapped at home for an indefinite time while an unresolved crisis potentially escalates. I think a lot of the local Japanese caught that one too...
It looks like more "save face" and holding back an even more widespread panic. I have no clue how many people this is but where would they go? CNN is say there's 318,000 (?) in shelters. To get an idea, that's the population of cities like Honolulu, Colorado Springs, Tulsa, Arlington (TX), or Minneapolis. Me, I'd have given the government a one finger salute and gotten outta Dodge at the first sign of reactor problems (not that I'd have been living that close in the first place).
But I have to question your statement that these people are competent. If they were competent, they would have found a way to bring either electricity to the site to power up these cooling systems for a few days til the mains came back on or even brought in external pumps to keep everything on an even keel. Every ship in existence has pumps to circulate water. How do the coolant systems on subs work? Surely they have to be pumping water the same as the Nuke plant does.
Then there's this:
The boss of the company behind the devastated Japanese nuclear reactor today broke down in tears - as his country finally acknowledged the radiation spewing from the over-heating reactors and fuel rods was enough to kill some citizens
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1367684/Nuclear-plant-chief-weeps-Japanese-finally-admit-radiation-leak-kill-people.html#ixzz1GyaRMqAV
Enough to kill some citizens. This is why I hear so many times it refered to as "high radiation", no numbers unless it's under a certain threshold, just "high radiation" if it's above that threshold.
These people may not be incompetent, but they're certainly stupid.
I think a lot of the local Japanese caught that one too...
How'd that mayor put it? They're giving us no information. We feel that they've just left us to die.
What a fuster cluck.