Japanese physicians demand better post-Fukushima monitoring and public health measures

Physicians Against Nuclear War in Japan has published a statement regarding the Fukushima nuclear disaster that deserves a wider international audience. It protests recent Japanese government pressures for return of displaced people to areas radioactively contaminated from the Fukushima nuclear disaster; continued tolerance of radiation exposures for the general public, which IPPNW has repeatedly condemned as unacceptably high; and transfer of the onus of protection to individuals.

PANW, which was founded in Tokyo in 1987 to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons, expanded its activities to include the health impact of nuclear power plants following the March 2011 nuclear reactor crisis at Fukushima Daiichi. “We protest the recent statements from Japan Nuclear Regulation Authority, Japan Atomic Energy Commission and Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters, and protest moves by the government to accelerate the return of evacuees to the contaminated areas without sufficient participation of community members as stakeholders.”

The doctors group goes on to make a series of recommendations for more stringent and effective radiation monitoring, more complete and transparent public access to information, and comprehensive health care for those who continue to live in contaminated areas and for displaced populations.