09/02/2013

International Fukushima-Task Force needed – The wrecked nuclear power plant is a threat to millions of people

Fukushima crisis must be put on the agenda of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg (September 5 - 6)

The Society for Threatened Peoples sends a call to German Chancellor Angela Merkel to use the G20 summit to address the problem of the ongoing nuclear accidents at the wrecked nuclear power plant in Fukushima (Japan). "The most important industrial countries must set up an international expert task force to help Japan to deal with the unpredictable consequences of the nuclear disaster," said STP-consultant Ulrich Delius in Göttingen on Tuesday. "The crisis in Syria – which will be a key topic of the summit – is bad, no doubt, but the situation in Fukushima is a time bomb." If radioactive substances continue to leak into the groundwater and into the Pacific Ocean, this is a threat to the health and the lives of millions of Japanese people as well as the residents of the neighboring countries. Also, there are hundreds of thousands of indigenous people living on the Pacific Islands who live mainly from fishing. They fear that the food chain might be more and more disturbed.

"When the leaders of the major industrial countries meet in Russia to debate on economic growth, credibility and transparency, the Fukushima incident cannot be ignored," said Delius. "The bad news that reach us from the radioactively contaminated region every day are not only a problem for Japan – they are also shaking the world's confidence in the sense of responsibility of industries and governments in general." On Monday, the chairman of the government-appointed commission to monitor the situation in the wrecked nuclear power plant, Shunichi Tanaka, accused the operators of acting irresponsibly while trying to cope with the disaster. In August, the TEPCO company had to admit the existence of new leaks, from which considerable amounts of radioactive substances are seeping into the groundwater and into the sea. Tanaka could not rule out that further leaks will occur.

The STP criticized that Japan's industry and politics are apparently totally overchallenged by the catastrophe in Fukushima. Instead of asking for international help in time, the Japanese government chose to play down and palliate the problem for more than two years. "Radioactivity cannot be stopped with sticky-tape! The tinkering must finally come to an end in order to preserve the nature and the heritage of mankind," said Delius. It was not until the end of July of 2013 that the Japanese authorities had cautiously started to ask experts in the US for advice.