Arab News Japan

TOKYO: The resignation of the judge in the trial of the 7 young adults who were detected with thyroid cancer from the effects of radiation related to the Fukushima meltdown, has led to a new team of young judges for the seventh oral argument held this Wednesday, September 13 at the Tokyo District Court in front of an audience of 83 people.

In front of the court, 200 people – from Fukushima including those forced to leave their homes after the disaster, held green balloons in support.

The plaintiffs and their lawyers are as concerned about the increase in thyroid cancer as they are about the radioactive water released into the ocean from the Fukushima plant, which they believe will also add to the increase.

In court, the team of lawyers, tried to demonstrate to the judge the effects of radioactivity on the body. Part of their argument showed the studies and comments of the scientist TSUDA Toshihide, a research epidemiologist from the University of Okayama who links exposure to radioactivity to the prevalence of thyroid cancer.

12 years after the nuclear disaster, nearly 338 children and young adults (official data from April) have been screened for thyroid cancer. For comparison, thyroid cancers are extremely rare and normally amount to less than 0.0002 percent of the population. 

Lawyer SUZUKI Yuya argued that the studies showed a direct link between thyroid cancer and exposure to radioactivity and is proof of the victims being exposed to radioactivity from the nuclear accident.

The defense team remains firm in their challenge to refute the positions of the operator TEPco and the government lawyers who attribute thyroid cancers to latent cancers revealed by screening. X-rays.

IDO Tetsunari, another lawyer, reiterated the studies by the United Nations Human Rights Committee which attributes the increase in thyroid cancer to the 2011 nuclear accident.