Mary Selecky and Washington State's Response to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster

The 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan on March 11, 2011, unleashed a 30-foot tsunami along Japan's Pacific Coast that damaged nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear complex. The crippled reactors leaked radiation into the sea and atmosphere, contaminating the local environment and sending a radioactive plume across the Pacific Ocean toward North America some 5,000 miles away. Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire soon asked State Secretary of Health Mary Selecky for the State Department of Health's action plan for the crisis, directing the seasoned health officer to "handle it!" Although the health risks posed to west coast communities by the incoming radiation was low, the public's anxiety about possible health consequences was high. Round-the-clock news coverage of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and its fallout inadvertently stoked what Selecky described as "an epidemic of fear" as residents sought to protect themselves from potential radiation contamination in water, shellfish, and dairy products. Nearly three weeks into the crisis, Selecky received an unexpected phone call from Governor Gregoire, whom New York Times reporters had just contacted for comment on radiation found in a Washington State milk sample. "What milk sample?" Selecky replied, hearing the news for the first time. What should Selecky do? How should she and her staff respond to the March 11 disaster? How should she proceed following revelations of radiation in a Washington State milk sample? How should she and her department handle the public's concerns about contaminated debris washing up on Washington's shores and other disaster-related issues in months and years to come?

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