Fukushima Fallout: Ailing U.S. Sailors Sue TEPCO After Exposure to Radiation 30x Higher Than Normal [View all]
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Source: Democracy Now
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2014
Three years after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, scores of U.S. sailors and marines are suing the plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, for allegedly misleading the Navy about the level of radioactive contamination. Many of the servicemembers who provided humanitarian relief during the disaster have experienced devastating health ailments since returning from Japan, ranging from leukemia to blindness to infertility to birth defects. We are joined by three guests: Lieutenant Steve Simmons, a U.S. Navy sailor who served on board the USS Ronald Reagan and joined in the class action lawsuit against TEPCO after suffering health problems; Charles Bonner, an attorney for the sailors; and Kyle Cleveland, sociology professor and associate director of the Institute for Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University’s Japan campus in Tokyo. Cleveland recently published transcripts of the Navy’s phone conversations about Fukushima that took place at the time of the disaster, which suggest commanders were also aware of the risk faced by sailors on the USS Ronald Reagan.
GUESTS
Lt. Steve Simmons, U.S. Navy sailor who served on board the USS Ronald Reagan, the first ship to respond to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. Since returning, Simmons has suffered from serious health ailments potentially related to radiation exposure. This April, Simmons will "medically retire" from the military. He is part of the class action lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO.
Charles Bonner, attorney representing sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan in their lawsuit against TEPCO for the health damages they sustained from Fukushima radiation during Operation Tomodachi, the humanitarian aid mission to Japan immediately after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Kyle Cleveland, sociology professor and associate director of the Institute for Contemporary Asian Studies at Temple University’s Japan campus in Tokyo. Cleveland’s recent article in The Asia-Pacific Journal is called "Mobilizing Nuclear Bias: The Fukushima Nuclear Crisis and the Politics of Uncertainty."
Read more: http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/19/fukushima_fallout_ailing_us_sailors_sue
VIDEO AND TRANSCRIPT at link.
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