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CREATED:20170908T024000Z
DESCRIPTION:9/11 SF Japan Consulate Speak-out-Defend The Families and Children Of 
 Fukushima And Stop The Cover-up By The Abe Government\nMonday September  
 11, 2016 3:00 PM\nSan Francisco Japanese Consulate\n275 Battery 
 St./California St.\nSan Francisco\n\nDefenders of the survivors of the 
 Fukushima meltdown and contamination will be rallying and speaking out 
 against the effort by the Abe government to reopen other nuclear plants 
 from throughout Japan and also stop compensation for families living 
 outside the area. The Abe government has also made a large number of people 
 who voluntarily fled the Fukushima area after the 2011 nuclear disaster 
 disappear by cutting them from official lists of evacuees.\nThe government 
 has said that Fukushima has been “decontaminated” and also that the 
 people can can “overcome” radiation. They have raised the limits of 
 radioactive contamination for the people of Fukushima and are seeking to 
 repress anti-nuclear activists and journalists who are exposing the truth 
 about this ongoing disaster.\nEven the government’s own safety agency the 
 Nuclear Regulation Authority is skeptical of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s 
 promise to put safety ahead of profits and plans to gain legal assurances 
 before allowing the embattled utility to start operating nuclear reactors 
 again. The criminal cover-up by top government officials continues and the 
 Abe government even lied to the Olympics Committee that they had solved and 
 overcome the Fukushima disaster in order to get the summer Olympics in 
 2020.\nThe government is also seeking to dump 770,000 of tons of 
 contaminated radioactive water into the Pacific ocean despite opposition of 
 Japanese fishermen and the local communities. This contaminated water will 
 further pollute the waters of all countries in the Pacific rim.\nThe 
 government has also passed a secrecy law, a conspiracy law and is seeking 
 to eliminate Article 9 to allow the full militarization of Japan and 
 offensive war along with the development of nuclear armaments.\nWe need to 
 defend the people of Fukushima, Japan and the world and speak out. Please 
 join us on September 11, 2017  to demand that the families, women and 
 children of Fukushima must not be forced back and for an end to the 
 restarting of all Japanese nuclear plants.\n\nSpeak Out and Rally initiated 
 by\nNo Nukes Action 
 Committee\nhttp://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/\n\nFukushima Plant Is 
 Releasing 770,000 Tons of Radioactive Water Into the Pacific 
 Ocean\n\nhttp://www.truth-out.org/news/item/41564-fukushima-plant-is-releasing-tons-of-radioactive-water-into-the-pacific-ocean\n\nFriday, 
 August 18, 2017\nBy Dahr Jamail, Truthout | Report \n\nThousands of bags of 
 radiation-contaminated soil and debris wait to be processed inside the 
 exclusion zone, close to the devastated Fukushima nuclear plant on February 
 26, 2016, in Okuma, Japan. (Photo: Christopher Furlong / Getty 
 Images)\n\n\n\nWhen Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant suffered a 
 triple-core meltdown in March 2011 as the result of devastating earthquake, 
 most people had no idea this was only the beginning of a nuclear disaster 
 that has arguably become the single worst industrial accident in human 
 history.\n\nKeeping the three core meltdowns cool has been an ongoing 
 challenge that has yet to be met. As fresh water is pumped over the cores, 
 it is then stored on site in massive tanks. The Tokyo Electric Power 
 company (TEPCO), the operator of the plant, then has to figure out what to 
 do with that water.\n\nRecently, TEPCO announced that it would dump 770,000 
 tons of radioactive tritium water into the Pacific Ocean.\n\nThe 
 announcement infuriated local fishermen and environmental groups across 
 Japan. According to Mozhgan Savabieasfahani, an environmental toxicologist 
 and winner of the 2015 Rachel Carson prize, their outrage and alarm is not 
 without merit.\n\n\n"The release of thousands of tons of radioactive 
 tritium by a giant utility company into our aquatic and natural 
 environments is a blood-chilling prospect," Savabieasfahani told 
 Truthout.\n\nShe questions why there is not more outrage from those in the 
 Japanese government who are responsible for safeguarding the health and 
 wellbeing of the general public.\n\n"Where are the defenders of our 
 public's health?" she asked. "If they could pull the plug out of their 
 mouth, they could tell us that tritium is a toxic radioactive isotope of 
 hydrogen, and that, once released, tritium cannot be removed from the 
 environment. Let that sink in."\n\n"The Decision Has Already Been 
 Made"\n\nTakashi Kawamura, TEPCO's chairman, when asked about the decision 
 to introduce this vast amount of radioactive water into the ocean, 
 initially responded, "The decision has already been made."\n\nWhile he 
 quickly softened the statement, he has not stated that the action will not 
 occur.\n\nMeanwhile, the chairman of the Japanese Nuclear Regulation 
 Authority (NRA), Shunichi Tanaka, has claimed that tritium is of little 
 danger to humans and supportsTEPCO's plans to dump the water into the 
 ocean.\n\nThis claim, however, is vehemently disputed by toxicologists and 
 nuclear experts with more background in toxicology than Tanaka.\n\nM.V. 
 Ramana is the Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at the 
 Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia in 
 Canada, and is also a contributing author to the World Nuclear Industry 
 Status Report for 2016. He is critical of Prime Minister Shinzō Abe's 
 administration's mishandling of Fukushima.\n\n"The proposed release of 
 radioactive, contaminated water from Fukushima against the wishes of the 
 local residents, especially fishermen, represents yet another violation of 
 people's rights to a clean environment and a decent livelihood so as to 
 protect the financial interests of TEPCO," Ramana told Truthout.\n\nTanaka 
 argued that dumping the radioactive water is safe because that level of 
 tritium is unable to penetrate plastic wrapping. However, Ramana said that 
 justification misses the point.\n\n"NRA Chairman Tanaka is correct when he 
 says that tritium is 'so weak in its radioactivity it won't penetrate 
 plastic wrapping,' but that is irrelevant if the material is ingested," 
 Ramana said. "Because the tritium that is released will be in the form of 
 tritiated water, it can be easily absorbed by the body as it is chemically 
 identical to water."\n\nAccording to Ramana, a special concern with 
 tritiated water is that, when ingested by pregnant women, it can pass 
 through the placenta and affect the fetus.\n\n"During this stage, the 
 developing organism (the embryo and the fetus) is highly radiosensitive," 
 he added.\n\nAnd this is only one of the many ways in which tritium is 
 dangerous for humans, at even the lowest levels.\n\nFukushima Is an 
 "Ongoing Disaster"\n\nDr. Bruno Chareyron, an expert in radiation effects, 
 won The Nuclear-Free Future Award in 2016. He is the director of the 
 CRIIRAD lab (Commission de Recherche et d’Information Indépendentes sur 
 la RADioactivité), founded in 1986, which not only monitors the 
 environment for radiation contamination, but trains people to investigate 
 radioactivity as well.\n\nChareyron was blunt with Truthout about what is 
 happening at Fukushima.\n\n"It is important to understand that the 
 Fukushima disaster is actually an ongoing disaster," he said. "The 
 radioactive particles deposited on the ground in March 2011 are still 
 there, and in Japan, millions of people are living on territories that 
 received significant contamination."\n\nAccording to Chareyron, even 
 territories located more than 200 kilometers away from the damaged nuclear 
 reactors received significant fallout depending on wind direction, rainfall 
 and/or snow.\n\nAnd it's not just Fukushima prefecture that is affected by 
 radioactive contamination.\n\n"The Japanese authorities have launched a 
 huge program of decontamination on a territory of about 2,400 square 
 kilometers," Chareyron explained. "It is estimated that every day about 
 15,000 people are involved in this program. The ground and most 
 contaminated tree leaves are removed only in the immediate vicinity of the 
 houses, but a comprehensive decontamination is impossible."\n\nCesium 137 
 is a radioactive isotope that is one of the more common byproducts from the 
 formation of Uranium-235 in nuclear reactors.\n\n"Six years later, the 
 radioactive Cesium 137 has decreased by only 14 percent," Chareyron 
 said.\n\nChareyron said the powerful gamma rays emitted by Cesium 137 could 
 travel dozens of meters in the air. Therefore, the contaminated soil and 
 trees located around the houses, which have not been removed, are still 
 irradiating the inhabitants.\n\nTo underscore these points, his lab 
 produced a video that shows the power of gamma radiation emitted from 
 outside a building in Fukushima city in May 2011. That video can be viewed 
 here, as can another clip showing the contamination inside Fukushima city 
 in June 2012.\n\n"In the contaminated territories, people are also exposed 
 to an internal contamination through the ingestion of food and inhalation 
 of radioactive dust suspended by the wind," Chareyron said. "For example 
 the forest fire that lasted several days in April and May 2017 in the 
 contaminated forest of Mont Jûman has dispersed radioactive dust all 
 around."\n\nHe also reminded us not to forget the workers in the nuclear 
 plant who were exposed to radiation. This occurred even while managing the 
 radioactive waste that continues to be generated by the disaster, as well 
 as the management of the Fukushima Daiichi damaged reactors.\n\nChareyron 
 said that, according to TEPCO, in May 2017, 8,862 workers were monitored 
 for radiation exposure at the nuclear plant (of which 7,899 are 
 contractors).\n\nThe most elevated individual external dose was 7.36 
 milliSievert in one month.\n\nBy comparison, the annual dose limit for a 
 member of the public is 1 milliSievert per year.\n\n"A Carcinogen, a 
 Teratogen and a Mutagen All Rolled Into One"\n\nHydrogen is the most 
 abundant element in living cells.\n\n"Once toxic tritium makes it into the 
 environment, it will bind anywhere hydrogen binds," Savabieasfahani said. 
 "Imagine a toxic particle that can freely travel through our cells and bind 
 to every molecule of life in our bodies and cause damage. Tritium is a 
 carcinogen, a teratogen and a mutagen all rolled into one."\n\nAccording to 
 Savabieasfahani, there is no safe threshold level for tritium, as it can 
 harm living organisms no matter how low its concentrations.\n\n"Tritium can 
 cause tumors, cancer, genetic defects, developmental abnormalities and 
 adverse reproductive effects," she explained. "Tritiated water is 
 associated with significantly decreased weight of brain and genital tract 
 organs in mice and can cause irreversible loss of female germ cells -- eggs 
 -- in both mice and monkeys even at low concentrations. This we 
 know."\n\nEven at very low concentrations, tritium causes cell death, 
 mutations and chromosome breaks. Per dose, it is twice as damaging to our 
 genetic makeup as x-rays and gamma rays  \n\n"Once tritium travels up the 
 food chain it becomes even more dangerous to life," Savabieasfahani said. 
 "When incorporated into animal or plant tissue and digested by humans, 
 tritium can stay in the body for 10 years or more. Internally exposed 
 individuals can expect to be chronically exposed to the toxic impacts of 
 this carcinogen for years to come."\n\nAnd for infants and growing 
 children, tritium exposure is even more dangerous.\n\nSavabieasfahani 
 explained that qualitative, quantitative, physiological and epidemiological 
 evidence show that the internal uptake of tritium is 10 times more likely 
 to cause cancer and neurological deficit in infants and children than in 
 adults.\n\n"Infants' and children's higher vulnerability to tritium is 
 attributed to their increased gut absorption and their smaller body mass, 
 as well as their heightened sensitivity to radioactive exposures," she 
 added. "We have already observed that childhood cancers and leukemia are 22 
 percent higher near nuclear reactors, and where tritium has leaked into the 
 environment."\n\nCiting numerous studies -- including research from the 
 University of Florida and the journal Radiation Protection Dosimetry -- 
 Savabieasfahani stated emphatically that it is not enough to store that 
 knowledge in "dusty library stacks."\n\n"That knowledge must be taken down 
 from the shelf and broadcast now, before 777,000 tons of radioactive water 
 hit us in the face," she said.\n\nSurfing in Tritium?\n\nTruthout recently 
 reported on how the Japanese government, by allowing TEPCO to dump tritium 
 and then encouraging people who fled the Fukushima contamination zone to 
 return to their homes, is essentially planning to expose both its own 
 people and 2020 Tokyo Olympians to Fukushima radiation.\n\nFurthermore, the 
 International Olympic Commission is also working to paint conditions as 
 "normal" -- it even has plans for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to hold baseball 
 and softball games at Fukushima.\n\nWhy are so many powerful entities 
 engaging in this bizarre and harmful attempt at normalization?\n\nChareyron 
 believes that a nuclear disaster like the one affecting the TEPCO nuclear 
 reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi site simply cannot be "handled properly," 
 because highly radioactive material that should usually be kept confined 
 inside the core of nuclear reactors has been dispersed in the 
 environment.\n\n"Therefore, the Japanese government authorities and TEPCO 
 both try to influence the general public and the workers so that a 
 situation of exposure to radiation that would usually be considered as 
 unacceptable becomes progressively 'accepted,'" he said. "For example, the 
 annual dose limit of 1 milliSievert for the public has been changed into 20 
 milliSievert, the annual dose limit for the workers has been increased to 
 100 milliSievert for those exposed to 'especially high radiation,' 
 contaminated water is still leaking into the sea, and the authorities are 
 planning to re-use contaminated material for road construction in order to 
 lower the cost of radioactive solid waste management."\n\nChareyron also 
 said that corium, a highly radioactive material, accumulated at the bottom 
 of reactors one and three and is still to this day has not been precisely 
 located, and nobody yet knows when it will even be possible to dismantle 
 the reactors.\n\nChareyron believes both the Japanese government and TEPCO 
 face enormous difficulties, because of the fact that it is impossible to 
 properly decontaminate the affected territories. Furthermore, Fukushima 
 prefecture residents are more or less "forced" to come back to their houses 
 while the radiation is still high, since the government announced it will 
 cut housing subsidies that were being provided to any of them not under 
 mandatory evacuation orders.\n\nHe also shed light on how this massive 
 dumping of radioactive tritium water is not likely to be the last time this 
 occurs. Chareyron said that TEPCO still must pump out on a daily basis 
 massive amounts of heavily contaminated water that isused to cool the 
 reactor cores, and this water is also already contaminating the water table 
 with radiation. He also expressed concerns around the lack of monitoring of 
 how the general population in the region is being affected by the 
 contaminated water.\n\nChareyron emphasizes that both the Japanese 
 government and TEPCO have been fundamentally dishonest with the 
 public.\n\n"Since the beginning of the crisis, the Japanese authorities and 
 TEPCO have been lying to the people about the adverse impact of radiation 
 on health and the extension of the disaster," he said.\n\nSavabieasfahani 
 noted that TEPCO has been rewarded with trillions of yen in government 
 subsidies since the 2011 nuclear disaster began. That disaster was preceded 
 by TEPCO's false reporting of technical data to authorities on hundreds of 
 occasions, and by the 2008 shutdown of one of its nuclear power plants 
 following an earthquake.\n\nInstead of doling out future subsidies, 
 Savabieasfahani said, the government should be holding the company 
 accountable.\n\n"A far better outcome would be to force TEPCO's 
 shareholders, starting with the largest, to pay for cleaning up the damage 
 their company has caused," she said. "Let it be a warning to everyone 
 trying to make similar profits, worldwide, from similar nuclear power 
 ventures. The insane alternative of dumping all that radiation into the 
 seas, and letting TEPCO shareholders keep the trillions of yen they have 
 made from poisoning and lying to the public, is simply 
 unspeakable."\n\nSavabieasfahani wonders why so many academics and 
 universities are silent on these matters.\n\n"From Los Angeles to Tokyo, 
 the universities are loaded with environmental scientists, public health 
 researchers, epidemiologists, medical school professors, and soon they will 
 be drinking tritium along with everyone else," she said.\n\nOn July 27, the 
 journal Science of the Total Environment published a peer-reviewed article 
 about radioactively hot particles being detected in soil and dust across 
 northern Japan.\n\nThe article details the analysis of radioactively hot 
 particles collected in Japan following the Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns.     
                        \n\nBased on 415 samples of radioactive dust from 
 Japan, the USA and Canada, the study identified a statistically meaningful 
 number of samples that were considerably more radioactive than current 
 radiation models anticipated. If ingested, these more radioactive particles 
 increase the risk of suffering a future health problem.  \n\nHowever, 
 despite substantial scientific research that demonstrates the ongoing 
 radioactive danger created by the Fukushima disaster, Savabieasfahani notes 
 that -- much like the government and the industry -- most academics have 
 chosen not to speak out about the contamination.\n\n"Don't these academics 
 have anything to teach us, before their fish, seaweed, plants, crops and 
 children are poisoned with 770,000 tons of radioactive water?" 
 Savabieasfahani asked. "The silence of the entire academic world, as these 
 proposals to dump tritium in our laps are being favorably discussed in the 
 media, teaches a very different lesson: to just drink it up and let the 
 shareholders make another buck."\n\n\nJapan NRA doubts TEPCO’s safety vow 
 in Niigata, plans legal 
 move\nhttp://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201709070026.html\nBy MASANOBU 
 HIGASHIYAMA/ Staff Writer\nSeptember 7, 2017 at 16:10 JST\n\n\n\n\nTokyo 
 Electric Power Co. wants to restart the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors, shown in 
 the forefront, at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata 
 Prefecture. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)\nThe Nuclear Regulation Authority, 
 skeptical of Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s promise to put safety ahead of 
 profits, plans to gain legal assurances before allowing the embattled 
 utility to start operating nuclear reactors again.\n\nTEPCO has applied to 
 restart two reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture, 
 which would be the first run by the company since the disaster unfolded at 
 its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in March 2011.\n\nAlthough NRA members 
 agreed that the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant 
 passed new regulations on technological aspects, they could not agree on 
 whether the company has learned its lessons about safety management since 
 the triple meltdown at the Fukushima plant.\n\nTo ensure TEPCO will put 
 safety at the forefront of its operations, the NRA is considering holding 
 the utility legally responsible for completing the entire decommissioning 
 process of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.\n\nThe regulator expects to 
 draft a checklist to verify the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant’s safety and 
 other steps before it makes a final decision on whether to allow TEPCO to 
 restart the reactors. The next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 13.\n\nThe 
 NRA had previously determined that 12 reactors at six nuclear plants met 
 new nuclear reactor regulations shortly after completion of their 
 technological examinations.\n\nThe NRA also finished its technological 
 examinations of the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors, the newest ones at the 
 Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.\n\nThe plant has seven reactors, making it one of 
 the largest nuclear power stations in the world. The two reactors that 
 TEPCO wants to put online each has a capacity of 1.36 gigawatts.\n\nTEPCO 
 has said the resumption of the reactors are needed to turn around its 
 business fortunes.\n\nBut NRA commissioners are reluctant to allow TEPCO to 
 bring the plant online based solely on the results of the technological 
 screening.\n\nAfter the chairman and president of the utility were replaced 
 in June, the NRA summoned the new top executives in July.\n\nThe watchdog 
 demanded that they give a written response to the regulator’s position 
 that TEPCO “is not qualified to operate the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, 
 given the seeming lack of determination and spotty track record to take the 
 initiative in decommissioning (the Fukushima No. 1 plant).”\n\nIn August, 
 the company submitted a paper to the NRA promising to “take the 
 initiative in addressing the problem of victims of the nuclear disaster and 
 to fulfill the task to decommission the plant.”\n\nThe paper also said 
 the company “has no intention whatsoever to place economic performance 
 over safety at the (Kashiwazaki-Kariwa) plant.”\n\nTomoaki Kobayakawa, 
 the new president of TEPCO, called the paper a “promise to the 
 public.”\n\nAlthough the NRA commissioners on Sept. 6 recognized 
 TEPCO’s commitment to safety to a certain degree, doubts 
 remained.\n\nNobuhiko Ban, an NRA member who is a specialist on 
 radiological protection, called for a system that would keep TEPCO 
 committed to safety management in the future.\n\n“Is it all right for us 
 to take TEPCO’s vow at face value?” he said.\n\nThe NRA then decided to 
 consider legal ways to hold TEPCO accountable for safety issues.\n\n\n\n2 
 Japanese utilities keen to restart 3 nuclear reactors in early 
 2018\n\nhttp://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170829/p2a/00m/0na/011000c\nAugust 
 29, 2017 (Mainichi Japan)\nJapanese version\n\n\nIn this Nov. 6, 2016 file 
 photo, from left, the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Genkai Nuclear Power 
 Plant are seen from a Mainichi helicopter in Saga Prefecture. 
 (Mainichi)\n\nIn this November 2016 file photo, from left, the No. 4 and 
 No. 3 reactors at the Oi Nuclear Power Plant are seen from a Mainichi 
 helicopter in Fukui Prefecture. (Mainichi)\nThe long-halted operation of 
 the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant's No. 3 reactor is planned for restart in 
 January of next year, and for a shift to commercial operation the following 
 month, plant operator Kyushu Electric Power Co. announced on Aug. 
 28.\n\n【Related】Residents furious over high court decision to revoke 
 Takahama nuclear plant injunction\n【Related】Editorial: KEPCO has huge 
 responsibility in restarting nuke plants\nIf and when the reactivation of 
 the No. 3 reactor takes place, it will become the third reactor at nuclear 
 plants operated by the Kyushu Electric to be restarted, after the No. 1 and 
 No. 2 reactors at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima 
 Prefecture.\n\nDepending on the results of inspections that will be 
 conducted by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), however, plans to 
 resume operations of the No. 3 reactor in Genkai, Saga Prefecture, may be 
 delayed. As for the plant's No. 4 reactor, reactivation plans are still up 
 in the air.\n\nKyushu Electric submitted a request on Aug. 28 to the NRA 
 for a pre-reactivation inspection of the No. 3 reactor. The inspection is 
 set to begin on Sept. 11.\n\nThe Kyushu utility is set to carry out 
 pluthermal power generation using MOX fuel, or mixed plutonium-uranium 
 oxide fuel, at Genkai's No. 3 reactor. According to the plan, Kyushu 
 Electric hopes to mount 193 units of nuclear fuel, including MOX fuel, to 
 the No. 3 reactor in December. The control rods that suppress atomic 
 fission will then be removed next January, reactivating the reactor. Power 
 generation will be started two or three days after the reactor resumes 
 operation, and the electricity that is generated will be transmitted to 
 private homes and other facilities.\n\nAlso on Aug 28, Kansai Electric 
 Power Co. announced its plans to resume operation of the No. 3 and No. 4 
 reactors at the Oi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture in mid-January 
 and in mid-March of next year, respectively. Construction work necessary to 
 implement safety measures had taken longer than planned, causing a delay in 
 the expected restarts. To resume operation of the reactors, Kansai Electric 
 still needs to obtain the consent of the local community. It is anticipated 
 that the lowering of electricity prices as a result of nuclear reactor 
 restarts will be pushed back to next April at the earliest. Kansai Electric 
 also submitted a request for pre-activation inspections to check the 
 performance capabilities of the reactor equipment to the NRA on Aug. 
 28.\n\nBecause Kansai Electric already resumed operation of the No. 3 and 
 No.4 reactors at its Takahama nuclear plant between May and June, the 
 additional reactivation of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi plant 
 will bring the total of Kansai Electric reactors in operation to four. 
 However, the Fukui Prefectural Government has not agreed to the resumed 
 operation of the Oi nuclear plant's No. 3 and No. 4 
 reactors.\n\n\nElimination of Fukushima evacuees from list 
 slammed\nhttp://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201708280053.html\nBy SHIGEO 
 HIRAI/ Staff Writer\nAugust 28, 2017 at 18:55 JST\n\n\nThis woman in her 
 30s lives in Tokyo with her young children after fleeing her home in 
 Fukushima Prefecture following the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear 
 power plant in March 2011. Her husband remains in Fukushima Prefecture for 
 his job. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)\nThe central government has made a 
 large number of people who voluntarily fled the Fukushima area after the 
 2011 nuclear disaster disappear by cutting them from official lists of 
 evacuees.\n\nCritics are now condemning the move, which went into effect 
 last April, saying it prevents government officials from fully grasping the 
 picture of all who remain displaced to evaluate their future 
 needs.\n\n“Accurate data on Fukushima evacuees is essential in gaining a 
 better understanding of their current circumstances and crafting measures 
 to address their problems,” said Shun Harada, a sociology researcher at 
 Rikkyo University in Tokyo, who contributes as an editor for an information 
 publication for evacuees living in Saitama Prefecture.\n\n“When only 
 smaller than the real numbers are made available, difficulties facing 
 evacuees could be underestimated and could result in terminating support 
 programs for them,” he complained.\n\nAs of July, 89,751 evacuees were 
 living across Japan after fleeing from the nuclear disaster, down by 29,412 
 from the March tally.\n\nIn April, the central government opted to cut 
 “voluntary” evacuees who fled their homes due to fears of radiation 
 despite being from outside the evacuation zone.\n\nIt came after the 
 official program to provide free housing to the voluntary evacuees was 
 stopped at the end of March, which was designed to facilitate a prompt 
 return to their hometowns in Fukushima Prefecture. People from the 
 evacuation zone are still eligible to the free housing program.\n\nThe 
 central government’s Reconstruction Agency, set up to oversee rebuilding 
 efforts in Japan’s northeastern region after the 2011 Great East Japan 
 Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, releases the number of evacuees 
 each month, based on figures compiled by local authorities.\n\nThe 29,412 
 drop in the number of official evacuees between March and July includes 
 15,709 in Fukushima Prefecture, 6,873 in Miyagi Prefecture, 2,798 in Iwate 
 Prefecture, 780 in Tokyo, 772 in Kanagawa Prefecture and 577 in Saitama 
 Prefecture.\n\nBefore the change in housing policy, agency statistics 
 showed a monthly decrease in evacuee numbers of between 3,000 and 4,000 in 
 the several months leading up to the end of March.\n\nBut the drop in 
 numbers increased dramatically to 9,493 between March and April and 12,412 
 between April and May.\n\nKanagawa and Saitama prefectural officials say 
 voluntary evacuees were responsible for most of the declines in their 
 jurisdictions.\n\nA large number of them are believed to be living in the 
 same housing as before but are now paying their own rent.\n\nA 43-year-old 
 woman who has been evacuating in Saitama Prefecture since fleeing from 
 Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, with three other family members said she is 
 angered by the central government’s treatment.\n\n“We cannot return to 
 Fukushima Prefecture due to fears of the effects of radiation,” she said. 
 “I feel like I have been abandoned by the state by being denied evacuee 
 status.”\n\nAn official with the Tokyo-based Japan Civil Network for 
 Disaster Relief in East Japan, a private entity that functions as a liaison 
 unit for a nationwide network of groups supporting victims of the disaster 
 six years ago stressed the need for local authorities to have an accurate 
 understanding of the circumstances surrounding evacuees.\n\n“Of the 
 evacuees, the elderly and single-parent households tend to be left in 
 isolation and many of them are likely to become qualified to receive public 
 assistance in the near future,” the official said. “Local officials 
 need to know they are evacuees (from Fukushima).”\n\nThe official added 
 that it will become difficult for support groups to extend their help if 
 voluntary evacuees are taken out of the official tally.\n\nBut the 
 Reconstruction Agency said it will not reconsider the definition of 
 evacuees.\n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/09/07/18802645.php
SUMMARY:Speak-out-Defend Families/Children Of Fukushima & Stop Restarting JPN NUKE Plants
LOCATION:San Francisco Japanese Consulate\n275 Battery St./California\nSan 
 Francisco, CA
URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2017/09/07/18802645.php
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DTEND:20170911T230000Z
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