Applying painful "lessons learned" from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Fukushima

The Mainichi Daily News has published an editorial calling for the painful experiences endured by Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombing survivors -- such as cover ups on health damage caused by radiation, lack of medical care, and even discrimination by fellow Japanese -- to not be repeated upon the survivors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power catastrophe. The editorial reported that Terumi Tanaka, 80 year old secretary-general, and the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) which he directs, changed their previous openness to "atoms for peace" in the aftermath of Fukushima. They have called for "residents near the nuclear plant [to] be given disaster victim certificates and health management books, and undergo regular health checkups throughout their lives."