Read this article in Japanese.
By Akio Matsumura
Yastel Yamada is 73 years old. He seems a little tired after weeks on the road in the United States. He is trying to save Japan.
One of the first people I have met who can tell the inside story of the Fukushima accident, Yamada is concerned that work is not being done on the three nuclear reactors that melted down last year because the high radiation levels are still keeping TEPCO workers away. The crippled buildings are unstable, still contain nuclear assemblies, and present a long term threat to the people in the area. The cooling systems especially are a cause for concern. Mr. Yamada, founder and president of the Skilled Veterans Corps for Fukushima (Fukushima Genpatsu Kodotai), along with 700 members, want to help clean up the site.
The rationale behind the Skilled Veterans Corps is that even if the workers get cancer from the radiation, it may take 20 years to develop, wherein average life expectancy only gives them 12 to 15 years to live anyway. He doesn’t believe they should risk young lives to do work that his group can happily and capably handle. On his current tour of the United States he is gaining support for Americans to pressure the Japanese government into taking a more responsible route with the disaster: his group, as well as an international assessment team, should be let in.
Beyond cleanup of the site, Mr. Yamada doesn’t believe TEPCO has the technological capabilities to deal with the long term issues. TEPCO, he says, doesn’t believe this either. TEPCO’s plan, according to Yamada, is to contain the radiation in the next 40 years. He estimates they will need 50 years or perhaps much longer.
Cancer from direct radiation poisoning is not the only concern. Even taking the TEPCO estimate, 40 years of radiation contamination in the food chain will have sizeable effects in Japan and perhaps in neighboring countries. The public debate in Japan has shifted to restarting power plants across the country, and little is said about the long term effects of the accident.
Mr. Yamada’s approach in seeking U.S. support is the same one I undertook early this year. Regrettably I do not expect much of an outcome. After 17 months, the situation is worsening and unless Japan requests the independent assessment team and guarantees a huge budget to carry out the team’s technical advice, the US government will not step in. Even though it is sympathetic to nuclear waste storage issues and recently imposed a new ban on new reactor construction and licensing renewals, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, under new chair Allison MacFarlane, will not extend itself to tackle non-essential issues, especially with a presidential election in sight.
I feel sorry to see his disappoint reaction and at the same time I have growing concerns about the management of the national crisis where the central government, local government, TEPCO and media have barriers to speak out about the worsening situation. This political and social culture is described by Mr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, chairman of the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Accident Independent Investigation Commission:
THE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI of March 11, 2011 were natural disasters of a magnitude that shocked the entire world. Although triggered by these cataclysmic events, the subsequent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant cannot be regarded as a natural disaster. It was a profoundly manmade disaster – that could and should have been foreseen and prevented. And its effects could have been mitigated by a more effective human response.
How could such an accident occur in Japan, a nation that takes such great pride in its global
reputation for excellence in engineering and technology? This Commission believes the
Japanese people – and the global community – deserve a full, honest and transparent answer to this question. What must be admitted – very painfully – is that this was a disaster “Made in Japan.”
Its fundamental causes are to be found in the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: our reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to ‘sticking with the program’; our groupism; and our insularity.
Japanese culture may have played a role in the accident, but it is not a helpful indictment. It gives an easy and inexcusable break to those individuals who are responsible. We need individuals to champion the health and security of Japan’s residents.
Mr. Yamada is willing to put his country first and make a large sacrifice on its behalf. I am encouraged by his efforts but imagine his exasperation as he lobbies the Japanese cautious establishment.
On the other end of the spectrum, in age at least, are the three girls of Soma High School who staged a play about the suicide of a friend in the wake of the accident. Young colleagues in the United States, calling themselves Friends of Fukushima, admired their courage and created English captions that allowed it to be watched around the world.
Friends of Fukushima has been offered by their friends in Pakistan, Germany, France and others to translate it into their languages. In democratic countries, those old enough are able to express our opinions with our vote. If you’re too young, this opportunity—the focal point of democracy—is lost. However, YouTube provided a place to grieve and call for something different. Their message was of despair tinged with hope. It is hard for me to understand why Soma High School had YouTube remove the video. (They claim there is a copyright issue). They should be encouraging their students’ brave messages, not censoring them.
It is a fundamental issue for democracy that the freedom of speech for those too young to vote is guaranteed.
Mr. Yamada is a hero of the older generation. The three actresses are heroines of the young. I am ashamed that those in the middle generation, those who have the power to tackle the largest issues, are weak, cowering behind the excuse of a stoic culture. Hiding in the anonymity of bureaucracy. Bowing to an unshakeable status quo. Fearing for their careers and reputation while their country’s health is at stake.
Fukushima needs a hero. Where are the champions of this current generation?
Are you going to do the honorable thing and commit Hari Kari when you find out that all the lies that you are pumping out to inflame the world are not true? Probably not, but I would settle for your stopping to claim that you are a diplomat, because you appear to have never represented your government. I would also settle for your dumping Arnold Gundersen’s lies about Fukushima. It is too bad that some poor kid committed suicide but perhaps all the liars about Fukushima should take credit for misleading that student to the point of despair. Doubt you will reply, you probably will not even post this, but I welcome yours or anyone else’s reply – DUStory dash owner at yahoo groups dot com.
Roger you are insane and ill-informed. The Japan Times and Mainichi have, even today, published news that Fukushima is in dire trouble. You should read more, lie less, and protect the health of yourself and your family. Even as you stay in denial scientists all around the world are sounding the alarm on Fukushima.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120821lp.html
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20120521p2a00m0na020000c.html
Hello Roger,
Your personal objections to the author and Arnold aside, I presume you are taking issue with description of the current status of the plant. Personally I find it difficult to get a clear picture of this status, and would welcome any insights you may have. Most sources of information are either very light on detail, or are coloured by the ‘conspiracy theory types’ who seem to revel in predictions of doom. Surely this is not a matter of opinion, but one of fact. The most pertinent of questions, to my mind, is the location and status of all plant inventory.
I look forward to your reply.
Regards,
John.
Mr. Matsumura,
Thank you for your tireless efforts to bring attention to the situation at Fukushima and in Japan. Thanks also for mentioning the work of those girls, I saw the play; I didn’t know it had been censored by the school. Perhaps theres a copy still somewhere on Youtube, if I find it I’ll let you know.
We in the States are trying to help, there is now a group, FukushimaResponse.org and other similar groups starting up and taking action. They want to make this an issue with the Democratic Party, we’ll see where it goes. This will be “a hard row to hoe,” as the farmer says, but we have to do it. I am wishing you and Yasutera all the best luck and skill in dealing with the situation.
Regards,
Nick
IK lived in Japan for fifteen years, eight of which were in the 1970s when then Primje Minister Tanaka Kakue was aggressively pursuing the construction of nuclear power plants. The public outcry at the time was justified, but to no avail. When the disaster at Fukushima occurred, my wife and I were shocked, but not surprised. Nuclear power is inherently dangerous. The world has neither the technology nor the will to make nuclear power safe. The world cannot afford to continue to proliferate nuclear power plants. The disaster at Fukushima should offer the world a chance to work together to perfect alternate sources of energy and it would behoove the governments of the world to unite and use the Fukushima disaster as a stepping stone tto do so. Citizen groups around the world, while they can wring their hands over the lack of resolve by the Japanese government to act in a decisive manner, can do little to change the situation. I would urge such groups to capaign in their own countries for their countries to pressure Japan to listen to and accept the advice of the scientific community and spur Japan to positive action to phase out nuclear power. As more countries (Iran, for example) continue to pursue nuclear power as a prime source for power, the task to replace such power plants becomes mofr and more difficult. The time is now. We cannot wait until nuclear power becomes the norm for the world and the risk of nuclear disaster increases. Nuclear power is the silent killer and,unless checked, will become a danger to the entire planet. We have no safe way to handle nuclear waste and, as plants proliferate, the amount of nuclear waste will rise sharply (as will the probability of disasters like Fukushima). One cannot “clean up” a nuclear disaster site. At best, the problem can only be moved to another location. Nuclear power advocates cite the low cost of nuclear power when compared to other known technologies. The cost to the environment and to human lives, however, is never considered in that equation. Anyone familiar with the disasters at Three Mile Island in the U.S. and Chernobyl, should understand the dangers of nuclear power and the lack of our ability to alleviate the effects of such disasters. As the third world moves toward nuclear power, the risk increases exponentially. At some point, prior to widespread disaster and contamination, the world needs to unite to find alternate, safer power sources. Do your part and pressure your own governments to get involved. Japan is a sovereign nation and only world pressure can force the issue. Anyone who denies the unacceptable risk that nuclear power presents us is ignorant or simply does not care.
In light of the election result especially, Japan is now at a crossroads that could determine its future to an equal or greater extent than December 7 1941. On that date Japan, despite its undoubted technical brilliance and social cohesion, after a long period of descent into political extremism and strategic folly, crossed the point of no return into disaster that almost destroyed it, and cost it its Empire, and much of its wealth and position in the world, as well as millions of lives. It did so lulled into a false sense of overconfidence and security, partly by the world situation, and actions of others, but decisively by its own at the time excessive arrogance and shortsightedness, combined with a social-political conformity that whilst a great strength in normal times and constructively applied, can become a possibly fatal liability in circumstances of exceptional risk and crisis. Now is one such time. Japan faces an extreme risk of national disaster by the fragile situation at Fukushima, which one more large quake could turn into a major nuclear catastrophe beyond anything yet seen, and which could be destructive on a global scale. The amount of toxic radioactive isotopes that could be released if the fuel assemblies are exposed in the event of cooling failure due to another possible even likely large seismic disturbance are by all credible accounts enough to render much of Japan uninhabitable for centuries at least, as well as poison tens of millions of people within and beyond Japan. It must be the no. 1 priority of the new government to take all possible prudent action to reduce and eliminate this threat as urgently as practicable, every day lost could be the last. It has been quoted in the media that there are plans to remove the fuel assemblies by 2014, this is at least one year too late, it should already have been done. And furthermore, Japan’s nuclear industry must be upgraded and rendered safe such that another such disaster is not merely unlikely, but impossible. It was thought such a disaster would not occur, but it did. That means it can certainly happen again. The reactor design was and remains a poor one with enormous safety liabilities, an urgent priority should be to a) shut down any plants that are at serious (ie similar) risk of natural disaster, b) render fuel assemblies safe and adequately dispersed to prevent the possibility of another such disaster, and c) introduce new and safer plant designs. An overall threat assessment in light of the unforeseen events and revised contingency planning would also be in order. The new government must not go back to ‘business as usual’, for that would clearly and forseeably be to risk a repeat on an even more devastating scale.
JAPAN WAKE UP NOW TO THE MASSIVE RISK OF RENEWED AND EVEN NATIONALLY FATAL DISASTER!
JAPANESE LEADERS AND PEOPLE TAKE ESSENTIAL PREVENTIVE ACTION NOW WHILE THERE IS TIME!
DO NOT LET PETTY CONSIDERATIONS OF ANY SORT OBSTRUCT VITAL ACTION!
JAPAN IS AT THE CROSSROADS AGAIN, THIS TIME CHOOSE THE RIGHT AND SOUND COURSE!
DO NOT LET THIS GOVERNMENT GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS JAPAN’S LAST AND MOST RECKLESS!
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