Summer Quarterly 2018
Japanese Protest Government Plans to Build Roads Using Cesium-Contaminated Soil, and to Dump Cooling Water Into the Pacific
Skeptical Japanese survivors of the Fukushima-Daiichi disaster are protesting state and federal plans to disperse and abandon large amounts of radioactive waste that was generated by the triple reactor meltdowns.
Rachel O’Donoghue wrote in the London Daily Star April 29: “The country’s Environment Ministry wants to use the radiation-tainted material to rebuild a number of roads in the region that was devastated by a tsunami in 2011. But the proposal has sparked fury among residents over fears they could be poisoned by the soil.” An April 26 briefing about the plan “saw angry scenes erupt, with locals in the city of Nihonmatsu yelling about how the roads will be ‘contaminated.’ Authorities have been desperately trying to convince people that it will be safe, saying the soil will be buried under clean earth that will ‘block’ any harmful radiation.” Of course locals reply that the same was said about the reactors themselves. Roughly 28.7 million cubic yards of contaminated soil have been collected in 1-ton bags stacked in vast outdoor areas after being scraped from school yards, play grounds, hospital grounds and other public areas. Likewise, angry protests by fisherman have stalled government plans to dump millions of gallons of contaminated water now in storage into the Pacific Ocean. Seafood workers and others say more radioactive waste in the water will ruin the fishery.
US plaintiffs Involved in Disaster Relief Seek $1 Billion in Damages for Radiation Sicknesses
About 200 US citizens have re-filed a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co. which owns the Fukushima wreckage and an unnamed US firm seeking at least $1 billion for medical expenses related to radiation exposure suffered during the triple meltdowns. The suit was filed March 14 with federal courts in the Southern District of California and the District of Columbia by US participants in the relief effort made in the wake of the disaster. Hundreds of sailors on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and others were heavily contaminated when clouds of radioactive fallout inundated the ship during relief efforts. Many of the plaintiffs are suing for a second time after a similar suit was dismissed by the Californian federal court in January.
New Public TV Documentary: Meltdown: Cooling Water Crisis
A shocking new 49-minute documentary from Japan’s public television broadcaster NHK titled “MELTDOWN: Cooling Water Crisis,” reveals new information on how corporate policy undermined efforts to keep the three destroyed Fukushima-Daiichi reactors stable one week after the triple reactor meltdown disaster began. See video here. Hear an interview related to the film here.
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