Too Early To Dismiss Radiation As Cause Of Increased Thyroid Cancers In Fukushima - NGO

As Thursday marks the grim 10th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, the world's worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl, Toshiyuki Takeuchi, from the Fukushima Beacon for Global Citizens Network (FUKUDEN), told Sputnik it is still too early to dismiss the role played by radiation in the increase in the incidence of thyroid cancers in the affected region

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th March, 2021) As Thursday marks the grim 10th anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, the world's worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl, Toshiyuki Takeuchi, from the Fukushima Beacon for Global Citizens Network (FUKUDEN), told Sputnik it is still too early to dismiss the role played by radiation in the increase in the incidence of thyroid cancers in the affected region.

On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit off Japan's northeastern coast, triggering a massive tsunami that killed nearly 19,000 people. The earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee their homes and transforming the nearby area into ghost cities. Large amounts of radiation were released into the air, soil and water around the plant.

On the anniversary of the triple disaster, the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) released a report, saying that no harm was done to the health of local residents as a result of the disaster. Concerns over the potential health effects grew after multiple reports showed a high incidence of thyroid cancer in children in Fukushima. However, UNSCEAR and other experts attribute the higher rates to the use of highly sensitive ultrasound equipment and a large number of children being examined. The authors of the report also called the disaster a "catastrophe," not a "radiation catastrophe."

However, Takeuchi, whose non-profit NGO records and analyzes the phenomena caused by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, recalled that neither the Japanese government nor Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO), which operated the now crippled plant, have ever conducted the large scale survey such as a cohort analysis.

"It is too early to say that radiation has nothing to do with thyroid cancers in Fukushima because generally speaking, the health effects from radiation [are] well known and we have no evidence to deny this relationship," Takeuchi said.

According to Takeuchi, while the Japanese people mostly doubt the UN report and the view of the government, they have a complex feeling concerning Fukushima.

"People in Fukushima were exposed to relatively high radiation after the explosion of reactors so they are very anxious about the health of their children so they want to feel safe and seek a kind of guarantee for that nothing will happen to their children in future," he said.

Takeuchi says that after the disaster, people were divided into two categories: the first seek medical checks, while the second group is against the checks.

"There has been a speculation in Fukushima that once they admit the causal relation, they have to compensate, so they have been reluctant to conduct an overall survey about this," he said.

Now, ten years on, people in Fukushima, in general, don't like to emphasize the word "radiation" anymore, according to him.

"All the party want to make the damage of this disaster look smaller. Japanese Government wants to maintain a good reputation of efficient control in the international community. People in Fukushima and local government have suffered from a groundless rumor that all products including rice, vegetables, fruits, fishes and etc. [are] not safe to eat even if every product have been strictly examined both in public and private," he said.

Yet, at the same time, there are many who call the Fukushima disaster a "radiation catastrophe" in Japan.

"People favor for Anti-nuclear energy or No-Nukes movement tend to call this NPP [nuclear power plant] disaster, Nuclear disaster or Atomic energy disaster," he added.

Meanwhile, Tokyo continues to pay damages to the Fukushima victims and continues to receive complaints and lawsuits. Only last week, the residents of one of the villagers in Fukushima filed a lawsuit seeking approximately $1.9 million in damages from the government and TEPCO. The villagers, whose settlement was about 18 miles away from the plant, did not receive evacuation orders at the beginning. The village was, however, designated as an evacuation zone a month later.