Radiation anxiety Global summit on nuclear safety needed

Radiation has no border. The world is no longer immune from the fallout of Japan???s radiation leakage. A global summit is necessary to seek ways of upgrading nuclear safety.
The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety (KINS) reported the detection of miniscule amounts of radioactive iodine and zenon 133 in Seoul and a few other areas since Sunday. They are the first traces of radiation originating from Japan. The United States, China and Europe also detected similar levels of radiation.
The state-run monitoring agency stressed that the small amount does not pose any immediate risk to public health or the environment. Complacency may entail a hazardous outcome.
The institute presumed that the detected material might have reached Korea after travelling from Japan through the Kamchatka Peninsula and over the North Pole and Siberia.
The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology ruled out the possibility of xenon and other radioactive materials travelling directly to Korea from Japan.
Zenon poses a minor health risk but a prolonged exposure to the material might cause lung diseases.
However, concerns are growing as the radiation leakage from the earthquake-stricken nuclear reactors in Japan becomes serious.
Fish markets and sushi bars in Korea have seen a decline in sales although this might be an overreaction.
A sense of unease also gripped South Koreans over ocean contamination following the massive leak of radioactive water from Japan's troubled nuclear complex.
The Fukushima complex is still less serious than the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, which killed a total of 31 people and exposed the northern hemisphere to radiation.
The Seoul government is conducting regular radiation monitoring at 20 sites in waters off the country and 12 places across the country.
The government should map out step-by-step contingency plans against possible radioactive contamination. It must inform the people of the monitoring result daily.
Farmers near domestic nuclear plants must have access to regular information on radiation levels. If there is a problem effective communication is crucial. Public anxiety will spiral uncontrollably when the government is slow or untrustworthy in informing the citizens.
Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik chaired a meeting Monday to check the safety of domestic nuclear power plants. The government decided to conduct a stress test of local atomic reactors under the worst situation imaginable.
Korea should strengthen cooperation with China, Japan and other neighboring countries on ways of upgrading nuclear safety.
China plans to build 77 nuclear power plants, on top of the 13 now in operation.
The East Asian region is a place where nuclear power plants are crowded. A radiation leak from China would be more deadly to Korea than one from Japan. The nuclear accident in Japan is no longer a local issue but a global one. The United Nations should take the initiative for a global summit on nuclear safety.
Unless leaders take preemptive steps, the issue will just become a highly politicized agenda.