The Fukushima Taboo

  Posted on March 6, 2022 by beyondnuclearinternational

  3 Comments

“Coming out” on thyroid cancer from Fukushima is an act of bravery in today’s Japan

By Linda Pentz Gunter

In the midst of the arcane fight over whether to include nuclear power in the European Union’s green “Taxonomy”, five former prime ministers of Japan made an unprecedented statement. They roundly condemned any inclusion of nuclear power as a green or sustainable energy, even as a so-called bridging fuel.

The current Japanese government glossed over the climate arguments in the former prime ministers’ argument, quickly seizing upon one tiny phrase concerning conditions in Japan post-Fukushima that read: “many children are suffering from thyroid cancer”.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party even went so far as to approve a resolutioncondemning the five former prime ministers, one of whom, Junichiro Koizumi, is from that party. The resolution alleges that their statement was not “scientific” and that they were reigniting prejudice and encouraging people to view people from Fukushima as social outcasts.