Families sue government for Fukushima radiation exposure

"A group of parents and children who were residing in Fukushima Prefecture when the nuclear disaster unfolded in March 2011 is suing the central and prefectural governments for failing to take sufficient steps to protect children from radiation exposure during the crisis.

"In a written complaint, they said the central and prefectural governments failed to promptly release accurate data on airborne radiation levels after the nuclear crisis, neglecting their duty to prevent residential radiation exposure as much as possible, and exposing children to radiation."

"As a result, the parents and children are seriously worried about their health down the road and are suffering from mental distress, they said in the complaint." One woman's child became ill after the initial radiation releases.

"Of the 88 plaintiffs, 24 children who live in Fukushima and are still attending school there are demanding that local municipal offices affirm their right to receive education in a safe environment." The Japan Times

Radiation is known to cause various diseases. The information sharing and evacuations following Fukushima were clearly botched and some people were exposed to radiation because of this incompetent handling of the crisis.

Children are particularly vulnerable to radiation exposure, so these families are not waiting until someone has taken ill to sue for compensation. This lawsuit implies that exposure to radiation against their will, and due to government incompetence, is enough to allow them compensation since their risk of contracting certain diseases has been increased.

Doctors want to see a drop in radioactivity

Pediatrician Dr. Alex Rosen"Nuclear bomb tests contaminate soils, while nuclear accidents and X-rays are a direct threat to our health. At a world summit this week, doctors called for more protection and awareness...

"It was a central theme at this year's world congress of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) - the consequences of nuclear testing.

The participants gathered in Kazakhstan to see the consequences first-hand at Semipalatinsk - a Soviet-era test site which was active between 1949 and 1989...

" 'All around the world, you can find small traces of the radioactive Cesium-137 in soil samples and food," says the pediatrician Dr Alex Rosen...

"He says the levels of Cesium-137 are lower than the legal threshold.

'But you've also got to say that any amount of radioactivity can lead to higher risks, and that statistically, hundreds of thousands of people have died prematurely from cancer because of these same levels," Rosen says...

" 'We have to tell people: don't let your child have an X-ray unless it's absolutely necessary, don't eat that jam from that contaminated region," Rosen says, "and don't move close to a nuclear power plant.'" Deutsche Welle