MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

By Matthew Penney – “Japan’s leading business journal Toyo Keizai has published an article by Hokkaido Cancer Center director Nishio Masamichi, a radiation treatment specialist. The piece, entitled ‘The Problem of Radiation Exposure Countermeasures for the Fukushima Nuclear Accident: Concerns for the Present Situation’, was published on June 27 and is consistent with the critical coverage of the Fukushima crisis that has appeared in independent weekly magazines, notably Shukan Kinyobi, which have taken a strong anti-nuclear stance since the March 11 earthquake-tsunami-meltdown, and have repeatedly focused on the dangers of radiation exposure while calling for far-reaching measures to protect those at risk.

Nishio begins by asserting that the Fukushima crisis has caused Japan’s ‘myth of nuclear safety’ to crumble. He has ‘grave concern’ for the public health effects of the ongoing radiation leak.

Nishio originally called for ‘calm’ in the days after the accident. Now, he argues, that as the gravity of the situation at the plant has become more clear, the specter of long-term radiation exposure must be reckoned with.

Lamenting the poor state of public knowledge of radiation, Nishio writes, ‘Japan, with its history of having suffered radiation exposure from the atomic bombs, should have the most [direct] knowledge of radiation, but in fact, in the approach to the nuclear accident, has simply fallen into confusion.’ He places blame on a number of groups:

• TEPCO executives, who he accuses of having hidden the truth and prioritized the survival of the company over public health.
• Bureaucrats who were unable to put together an accurate body of information about radiation effects from which to formulate policy.
• A prime minister and cabinet lacking both leadership and an appropriate sense of urgency.
• Politicians who sought to use the crisis in intra- or inter-party struggles.
• Nuclear industry lobbyists and ‘academic flunkies’ (goyo gakusha) of the government who built up the myth of nuclear safety in the first place.

Looking at these groups, he writes, ‘I just cannot feel any hope for Japan’s future. These circumstances are simply tragic.'” Read more.

Radiation Expert Predicts More Threats from Fukushima – “A former nuclear adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan blasted the government’s handling of the crisis, and predicted more revelations of radiation threats to the public in the coming months. In his first media interview since resigning his post in protest in April, Toshiso Kosako, one of the country’s leading experts on radiation safety, said Mr. Kan’s government has been slow to test for dangers in the sea and to fish, and has understated certain radiation threats to minimize clean-up costs.” Read more.