Environmentalists are others are blasting a new World Health Organization (WHO) report that they say severely downplays the cancer risk following Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, saying "The WHO's flawed report leaves its job half done."

The WHO’s new report claims people who were within 20 kilometers of the accident were at a slightly elevated risk of developing some forms of cancer.  But critics say the numbers are too low for reality:  The report contends only 1.25 out of every 100 girls in the area could develop thyroid cancer over their lifetime, instead of the natural rate of about 0.75 percent.

Greenpeace says the UN is low-balling the numbers.  For one, the pre-disaster population density of the region means hundreds if not thousands of girls are at risk of thyroid cancer.  And evacuations from the immediate area didn’t even begin for days after the explosions.

The environmental group also notes that WHO only releases reports on radiation with the approval of the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEA), which has veto power over WHO’s health programs related to nuclear energy.  The IAEA actively promotes the use of nuclear power throughout the world.

Earlier this month, Fukushima Health officials said ultrasound tests have already detected Thyroid abnormalities in more than 44 percent of the children who have been examined.

And the radiation from Fukushima spread far beyond the 20-kilometer evacuation zone.

On 11 March 2011 a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of northwestern Japan, sending a killer tsunami sweeping across the region.  The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was swamped and heavily damaged, and within days two of its reactors blew-up.  It was the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster in the 1980s, which resulted in thousands of cases of thyroid cancer, giving rise to the macabre term “Chernobyl Necklace”.