Unjust Laws for Nuclear Power Leave Fukushima Victims Suffering

On the second anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Greenpeace made the following statements to highlight the flawed laws in Japan and internationally as well, that protect the nuclear industry and not the affected. Hundreds of thousands of people in Japan still lack the proper support, with the public forced to pick up the costs of the triple meltdown. People in any country with reactors would be left in the same troubling state after a nuclear accident.

Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director, Greenpeace International says, "This disaster rages on for more than 160,000 people who fled the radiation from the Fukushima meltdown and still cannot return home. Families and communities are breaking up, some are in financial ruin and the divorces and mental breakdowns are mounting. The companies that caused this nuclear crisis must be held fully responsible.

Greenpeace stands in support of those who lost loved ones in the earthquake and tsunami, but also in solidarity with every Fukushima resident whose health is still at risk from radioactive contamination. They need proper compensation and support to rebuild their lives. More than that, it's time to phase out an industry that led to their suffering."

Junichi Sato, Executive Director Greenpeace Japan says, "The Japanese government appears to have abandoned the people suffering from the triple meltdown at Fukushima. Its reckless push to bring dangerous and unnecessary nuclear plants back online shows it is out of touch with what its people want and that it has learned nothing from the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

The people of Japan and elsewhere faced with the threat of nuclear disasters need support and protection and only a fundamental reform of nuclear laws will meet that need. It is absolutely unfair that the current system forces taxpayers and victims to pay for nuclear disasters, not the companies that cause them.

Two years of struggle is two years too many for Fukushima evacuees. They must be compensated and the companies responsible for the accident held accountable. We must also move on with the inevitable task of phasing out nuclear power in favour of renewable energy, both in Japan and globally."

Samit Aich, Executive Director Greenpeace India says, "The disaster at Fukushima is not only a grim reminder of how nuclear power can affect lives of millions of people in an adverse way, it also unfortunately shows how the legal system around nuclear power is skewed and goes on to protect the polluter - the company which in the first place was responsible for the accident.

It is of paramount importance that we have laws which protect the people and not the industry. India has a strong supplier liability provision, which is under continuous threat of being diluted because of foreign pressure"

Greenpeace is calling on governments to reform the nuclear liability system to make nuclear operators and suppliers fully responsible for their failures.

Notes:

• A video on the experiences of some of the victims from the Fukushima disaster: https://youtu.be/MxZlcmlVrHY
• Greenpeace petition https://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/getinvolved/they-profit-you-pay/
• Link to images of a rally in Tokyo yesterday: https://photo.greenpeace.org/C.aspx?VP3=ViewBox&STID=27MZIFVGQ4MZ&CT=Story