Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Two 20-year-old complainants testified in court of their suffering from the removal of their thyroid due to detection of cancerous nodules after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The complainants from the city of Nakadori pleaded for a civil lawsuit against the operator TEPCO concerning seven children.

Speaking anonymously at the Court and at the press conference after the trial, the first complainant said that he had undergone two extremely painful thyroid operations by a Hiroshima surgeon, a specialist in cancer cases following the Chernobyl disaster, and wanted the effects of radioactive radiation in triggering his cancer to be legally recognized.

He said his cancer was detected seven years ago.

The second plaintiff told the Court that on the advice of his father, he had participated in the prefectural health survey for children in the Fukushima region and his cancer was detected two years ago. The plaintiff also wishes to clarify the real causes of his cancer through his trial.

After the 2011 nuclear disaster, and under pressure from residents of the Fukushima region, a prefectural health survey was developed to discover the occurrence of thyroid cancer cases related to the disaster.

The conclusions of the investigation by government specialists as well as by UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) were assessed by cancer screening techniques.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer IDO Keinichi pointed out that the conclusions on the doses of radioactivity from the radioactive cloud which flew over the Fukushima region after the nuclear disaster were transmitted inappropriately to the United Nations, and that the author of the first report, transmitted only one line concerning the doses of radiation thus minimizing the effect to 10 mSv/year.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers commissioned another investigation from radioactive specialist, KUROKAWA Shin –Ichi.

His report documented that radioactive fallout from the cloud is 60 millisieverts per year, which underlines the very high probability of the link between the exposure to the radioactive cloud and the triggering of thyroid cancers.

Arab News was able to consult with the specialist regarding his conclusion.

Before the Tokyo court, MUTO Ruiko from the liaison committee of Fukushima plaintiffs said he hoped that the judges would take into consideration the evidence to render their judgment and that this trial would not end in a dismissal which would exonerate TEPCO from its responsibilities.