For all the useless rhetoric about the so-called end of the Mayan calendar, which is simply a change from one era to another, it saddens me that so little attention is paid to the real hazards of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, including reactors 5 and 6. (Reactors 1 through 4 were shut down by the 3/11 disaster.)
According to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents released under the Freedom of Information Act (as reported in ENENews.com), the No. 3 reactor is empty of all its MOX fuel. Winds blew radioactive materials south toward Tokyo and Shizuoka Prefecture for 10 hours on March 14, 2011. That means the entire region needs to be thoroughly tested for contamination.
It is extremely hazardous to continue to incinerate radioactive debris and radioactive sludge, because the process can put radioactive isotopes back into the atmosphere to be recycled into soils, crops and people's lungs, causing health problems.
The area of contamination is probably not just 10,000 sq. km but rather three times larger, necessitating the permanent relocation of up to 40 million people. Otherwise, the health of the population and subsequent generations will suffer. Redistribution of contaminated food carries the same risks.
When will the authorities' collusion with silence and their betrayal of the Japanese people stop? Who will stand up and speak for people's health instead of for the profits of faceless corporations?
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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