MIT Researcher’s Japan Nuclear Reactors Post Debunked

Salon has published this article about “MIT research scientist” Dr Josef Oehmen and his post Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors, which went viral after its publication.

In that article, Oehmen said that “there was and will *not* be any significant release of radioactivity from the damaged Japanese reactors”. A claim that has proven to be completely wrong several times already, as announced in repeated occasions by the Japanese government.

According to Salon, Dr Oehmen is employed at MIT but he is not a nuclear scientist of any kind. He actually works at the Lean Advancement Initiative, focusing on business management issues:

Oehmen’s research focuses on “risk management” with an eye to helping companies “take entrepreneurial risks.” He writes papers on things like “Human Resource Management in China.”

Since its publication, Oehmen’s post was republished by MIT in an edited version, taking out the title and any claim about radiation escapes. Oehmen has declined any comment about Salon’s article. [Salon]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.