Updated 6/22/2015: 7,000 Japanese claim $297mn in Fukushima nuclear disaster damages — RT; 7,000 Tochigi residents seek compensation over Fukushima nuclear disaster — The Japan Times

Updated June 22, 2015, RT:

” Some 7,000 people in Japan’s Tochigi prefecture have sought $297 million in compensation over the Fukushima nuclear disaster. They are also demanding a decontamination fund, health checks, and an apology from the plant’s operator.

The residents’ lead lawyer, Koji Otani, said it is “irrational” for his clients to be treated differently than Fukushima residents, as the same amount of radiation was detected in Tochigi, Kyodo News reported.

The move by residents of Tochigi prefecture –some 100 kilometers from the site of the nuclear disaster – demands the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), act on their requests.

“We want TEPCO to take seriously the fact that over 7,000 people raised their voices,” Otani told a news conference at the Tochigi Prefectural Government office.

They are demanding sums ranging from 120,000 yen (US$971) to 720,000 yen ($5,800) per person, which is equivalent to the amount awarded to voluntary evacuees in Fukushima. The compensation is for mental suffering and extra living expenses caused by the disaster, according to lawyers.

In addition to financial compensation, the residents are also demanding a fund for decontamination, health checks, and an official apology from TEPCO.

The residents filed the appeal with the Nuclear Compensation Dispute Resolution Center on Monday. They were living in Otawara, Nasushiobara, and Nasu at the time of the nuclear meltdown.

“I let my [elementary school] child play in the garden without knowing radiation levels immediately after the accident,” said Mako Tezuka, 45, one of the residents who filed the appeal.

“Four years later, I still haven’t received any explanation or apology from TEPCO, and I’m only left with worries about the future and health of my child,” she said.

Over 30 percent of those seeking compensation were under 18 at the time of the disaster, or were born after it happened, attorneys said.

The appeal comes more than four years after a massive earthquake and tsunami led to the March 2011 meltdown of three nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, leading to the contamination of surrounding areas. ”

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Posted June 15, 2015, The Japan Times:

” UTSUNOMIYA, TOCHIGI PREF. – Some 7,000 people living in Tochigi Prefecture sought compensation Monday worth ¥1.85 billion through an out-of-court settlement with Tepco over the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

In the first collective appeal by residents who have not been compensated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., 7,128 people from Tochigi, located some 100 km from the crippled plant, argue that they should be eligible for compensation even though they were not living in Fukushima at the time of the 2011 nuclear disaster.

The residents, who were living at the time in Otawara, Nasushiobara, and Nasu are also demanding an apology and the establishment of a fund to pay for decontamination work and health checks, their lawyers said. The combined population of the two cities and town stands at around 218,000.

The appeal was filed Monday with the Nuclear Compensation Dispute Resolution Center under an alternative dispute resolution system that enables quicker settlements with the participation of a third party that has expertise.

Lead lawyer Koji Otani said it is “irrational” to treat his clients differently from the Fukushima residents who decided to evacuate on a voluntary basis and received compensation, as the same amount of radiation was detected in Tochigi.

“We want Tepco to take seriously the fact that over 7,000 people raised their voices,” Otani told a news conference at the Tochigi Prefectural Government office.

The residents are demanding sums ranging from ¥120,000 to ¥720,000 per person — equivalent to the amount awarded for voluntary evacuees in Fukushima — as compensation for mental suffering and extra living expenses caused by the nuclear disaster, according to the lawyers.

More than 30 percent of those seeking compensation were under 18 at the time of the Fukushima meltdowns, or were born afterward, they said.

“I let my (elementary school) child play in the garden without knowing radiation levels immediately after the accident,” said Mako Tezuka, 45, one of the residents who filed the appeal.

“Four years later, I still haven’t received any explanation or apology from Tepco and I’m only left with worries about the future and health of my child,” she said. ”

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Pope Francis calls nuclear power plants a modern-day tower of babel — Zentrum Oekumene der Evangelische Kirche in Hessen und Nassau

This is an article from the Ecumenical Center of the Evangelical Church in Hessen and Nassau, Germany.

” In an audience with Japanese Bishops, Pope Francis had criticized nuclear power by comparing it with the Tower of Babel, as reported by Takeo Okada, the Archbishop of Tokyo. When human beings attempted to reach heaven they triggered their own destruction. “Human beings should not break the natural laws set by God,” the Pope said. (Mainichi Shinbun March 22, 2015; Asahi Shinbun March 25, 2015)

This is probably the first clear-cut criticism of the “civil use” of nuclear power issued by the Vatican. The Pope expressed his conviction during an ad limina meeting with the Japanese bishops on March 20. “The destruction of nature is a result from human beings claiming domination (over the earth).” With these statements the Pope referred to the TEPCO-nuclear disaster in Fukushima in March 2011. Soon after the terrible disaster, the Japanese Catholic Bishops’ Conference had publicly demanded from the government the immediate shutdown of all nuclear power plants.

During the audience, Bishop Katsuya Taiji, head of the “Council for Justice and Peace” of the Japanese Catholic Bishops’ Conference, had handed over letters of two activists from Fukushima to the Pope. The first author was Takumi Aizawa, a school clerk from Iidate Mura, the most contaminated place in Fukushima Prefecture, who is involved in health care and protection of children since the disaster. In fact Mr. Aizawa had the great wish to inform the Pope personally about the real situation of the people in the contaminated area because the government, the administration, many doctors and scientists, and the media try to cover up the extremely dangerous situation. The second author is Mako Oshidori, a well-known journalist from Tokyo, who attended most of the TEPCO press conferences with critical questions and who is investigating the contaminated region constantly.

Shortly before, Mr. Aizawa and Ms. Oshidori had delivered presentations about the situation in Fukushima at the international and interreligious conference on “Contributions of religious groups to the energy shift” which was organized by the Center for Ecumenical Work in March 3.-6. 2015 in Arnoldshain (Germany). Prof. Ichiro Mitsunobu S.J., a representative of the “Council for Justice and Peace,” also participated in the conference and gave a talk about the position of the Catholic Church in Japan. Triggered by this conference, the “Council” asked the two activists to write letters to the Pope which the bishops wanted to hand over during their audience two weeks later.

One of the main goals of the conference in Arnoldshain on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the TEPCO nuclear disaster was to stimulate international and interreligious networks to abandon nuclear power and to engage in climate protection. The developments outlined above may be considered a first result of such an endeavor.

Until now the Vatican had condemned only the military use of nuclear power. Since the Vatican is member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it seems that with his critical statements about the “civil use” of nuclear energy Pope Francis deviates considerably from the position of his predecessors and is pursuing a new direction. Many Catholics hope that in his next encyclica on the protection of the environment the Pope will clearly voice also his critical attitude towards nuclear power.

Wolfgang Buff and Martin Repp

April 2015  ”

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