March 22, 2016
Fukushima Radiation: a Killer
by Robert Hunziker
The cocksure pro-nuclear crowd has trumpeted Fukushima as an example of
Mother Nature taking lives because of an earthquake and tsunami;
whereas, the power plant accident proves nuclear power can withstand
the worst without unnecessary death and illness. All of the deaths
(16,000) were the fault of Mother Nature, not radiation.
After all, it’s only one year ago that science journalist George
Johnson’s article, “When Radiation Isn’t the Real Risk,” appeared in
the New York Times, Sept. 21, 2015: “This spring, four years after the
nuclear accident at Fukushima, a small group of scientists met in Tokyo
to evaluate the deadly aftermath.”
“No one has been killed or sickened by the radiation — a point
confirmed last month by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Even
among Fukushima workers, the number of additional cancer cases in
coming years is expected to be so low as to be undetectable, a blip
impossible to discern against the statistical background noise
(Johnson).” A statement worth remembering.
The article goes on to say: “But about 1,600 people died from the
stress of the evacuation— one that some scientists believe was not
justified by the relatively moderate radiation levels at the Japanese
nuclear plant (Johnson).” Oh, please, I am gagging here!
Illness and Death
But, people in the streets and on the ground in Japan tell a different
story about the risks of radiation. They talk about illnesses and
death. Maybe radiation illnesses and deaths are relegated to “behind
the curtain” cover-ups because when one looks behind the curtain, an
image of death and rampant illness is revealed, thus exposing the
failure of a nation to come to grips with the brutal truth.
“Today, the radiation at the Fukushima plant is still so powerful it
has proven impossible to get into its bowels to find and remove the
extremely dangerous blobs of melted fuel rods, weighing hundreds of
tonnes. Five robots sent into the reactors have failed to return,”
Sheldrick and Funakoshi, Fukushima’s Ground Zero: No Place for Man or
Robot,” Reuters, March 11, 2016. It’s killing robots!
“It is extremely difficult to access the inside of the nuclear plant,”
Naohiro Masuda, TEPCO’s Head of Decommissioning said in an interview.
“The biggest obstacle is the radiation,” Ibid.
But, the referenced NYT article claims: “…people died from the stress
of the evacuation— one that some scientists believe was not justified
by the relatively moderate radiation levels at the Japanese nuclear
plant.”
Somebody is confused. Either TEPCO’s Head of Decommissioning or the NYT
article is wrong. They cannot both be correct, impossible.
As far as that goes, TEPCO itself has reported few radiation illnesses
and no radiation-caused deaths, but suppose it’s not their
responsibility in the first instance, as layers of contractors and
subcontractors employ workers to cleanup the toxic mess. If
“subcontractor workers die” from radiation exposure, so what?
According to sources in Japan, death is in the air, to wit:
“The ashes of half a dozen unidentified laborers ended up at a Buddhist
temple in this town just north of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Some of the dead men had no papers, others left no emergency contacts.
Their names could not be confirmed and no family members had been
tracked down to claim their remains. They were simply labeled
“decontamination troops” — unknown soldiers in Japan’s massive cleanup
campaign to make Fukushima livable again five years after radiation
poisoned the fertile countryside… Hideaki Kinoshita, a Buddhist monk…
keeps the unidentified laborers’ ashes at his temple, in wooden boxes
and wrapped in white cloth,” Mari Yamaguchi, Fukushima ‘Decontamination
Troops’ Often Exploited, Shunned, AP & ABC News, Minamisoma, Japan,
Mar 10, 2016.
“The men were among the 26,000 workers — many in their 50s and 60s from
the margins of society with no special skills or close family ties —
tasked with removing the contaminated topsoil and stuffing it into tens
of thousands of black bags lining the fields and roads. They wipe off
roofs, clean out gutters and chop down trees in a seemingly endless
routine… Coming from across Japan to do a dirty, risky and undesirable
job, the workers make up the very bottom of the nation’s murky,
caste-like subcontractor system long criticized for labor violations,”
Ibid.
Maybe local Japanese officials cannot identify some of the
radiation-scared remains or workers, but these same officials are great
at monitoring Associated Press journalists: “Officials keep close tabs
on journalists. Minutes after chatting with some workers in Minamisoma,
Associated Press journalists received a call from a city official
warning them not to talk to decontamination crews,” Ibid.
Here is part of an interview with Katsutaka Idogawa, former mayor of
Futaba (Fukushima Prefecture), Fukushima Disaster: Tokyo Hides Truth as
Children Die, Become Ill from Radiation – Ex-Mayor, RT, April 21, 2014
(this was reported prior to the aforementioned NYT George Johnson
article):
SS: The United Nations report on the radiation fallout from Fukushima
says no radiation-related deaths or acute diseases have been observed
among the workers and general public exposed – so it’s not that
dangerous after all? Or is there not enough information available to
make proper assessments? What do you think?
KI: This report is completely false. The report was made by a
representative of Japan – Professor Hayano. Representing Japan, he lied
to the whole world. When I was mayor, I knew many people who died from
a heart attack, and then there were many people in Fukushima who died
suddenly, even among young people. It’s a real shame that the
authorities hide the truth from the whole world, from the UN. We need
to admit that actually many people are dying. We are not allowed to say
that, but TEPCO employees also are dying. But they keep mum about it.
Mako Oshidori, (whose interview in Germany occurred a year before the
aforementioned NYT article), director of Free Press Corporation/Japan,
investigated several unreported worker deaths (yes, deaths), and
interviewed a former nurse who quit TEPCO: “I would like to talk about
my interview of a nurse who used to work at the Fukushima Daiichi
Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) after the accident… He quit his job with
TEPCO in 2013, and that’s when I interviewed him… As of now, there are
multiple NPP workers that have died, but only the ones who died on the
job are reported publicly. Some of them have died suddenly while off
work, for instance, during the weekend or in their sleep, but none of
their deaths are reported (Oshidori).”
“Not only that, they are not included in the worker death count. For
example, there are some workers who quit the job after a lot of
radiation exposure… and end up dying a month later, but none of these
deaths are either reported, or included in the death toll. This is the
reality of the NPP workers (Oshidori).”
During her interview, Ms. Oshidori commented, “There is one thing that
really surprised me here in Europe. It’s the fact that people here
think Japan is a very democratic and free country.”
Mako’s full interview “The Hidden Truth about Fukushima” is found here.
Alas, two hundred U.S. sailors of the USS Ronald Reagan have a pending
lawsuit against TEPCO, et al claiming that they are already
experiencing leukemia, ulcers, gall bladder removals, brain cancer,
brain tumors, testicular cancer, dysfunctional uterine bleeding,
thyroid illness, stomach ailments and other complaints extremely
unusual in such young adults. One sailor has already died from
radiation complications.
Among the plaintiffs is a sailor who was pregnant during the mission. Her baby was born with multiple genetic mutations.
The sailors participated in “Operation Tomodachi,” providing
humanitarian relief after the March 11th, 2011 Fukushima disaster based
upon assurances that radiation levels were okay. According to
plaintiff’s attorneys, more sailors are in the process of coming on
board as the tempest of nuclear radiation’s latent effects finally
erupts thru the ranks (it can take several years for the “accumulation
effect” of radiation to show up as cancer. Nevertheless, several U.S.
sailors are already showing symptoms.)
The sailors’ lawsuit was initiated well before the aforementioned NYT
article by Mr. Johnson. In fact, an article entitled “Judge: Sailors’
Class-Action Suite Can Proceed Over Alleged Radiation Exposure”
appeared in Stars and Stripes, October 30, 2014, a good 12 months
before the aforementioned NYT article.
“Bonner, and fellow attorney for the sailors Paul Garner, said
additional plaintiffs are continuing to come forward with ‘serious
ailments from radiation,’ according to a statement released by the
legal team,” Ibid.
Hmm, it appears there is confusion within the ranks about the effects
of radiation. Indeed, if radiation is killing, which it is according to
multiple sources within Japan, then hiding the fact is insidiously
disrespectful to Fukushima workers and Japanese citizens as well as
hoodwinking the world community; it’s almost criminal. Sure, Tokyo is
holding the Olympics in 2020, and the country needs to put its best
foot forward, but don’t hide, conceal, avoid an extraordinarily toxic
scenario from prospective Olympic attendees. That’s putting the worst
foot forward.
To top it off (and this really stinks), the Abe administration enacted
a laughable secrecy law that threatens 10-years prison time for
“breathing the wrong way,” well not quite that severe but certainly in
that spirit.
Still, when considering the risks of exporting toxic food, poisoning
sea water, and spewing toxins into surrounding cities, villages, and
countryside, and with people dropping dead, isn’t it incumbent upon the
government to level with society about the risks of deathly radiation?
Join the debate on Facebook
Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at roberthunziker@icloud.com
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