September, 01 2015, 08:45am EDT

For Immediate Release
Contact:
Kendra Ulrich, Senior Global Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace Japan, kendra.ulrich@greenpeace.org, +81 80 5088 3351
Shaun Burnie, Nuclear Specialist, Greenpeace Germany, sburnie@greenpeace.org, +44 7716 501238
Elena K. Johansson, Global Communications Associate, Greenpeace Japan, elena.johansson@greenpeace.org, +81 90 6478 5408
Greenpeace International Press Desk, pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org, phone: +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours)
IAEA Fukushima Report Downplays Radiation Risks and Ignores Science
The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Fukushima report, released Monday downplays the ongoing environmental and health effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. According to Greenpeace Japan, the report plays into the Abe government's agenda to normalise the ongoing nuclear disaster.
TOKYO
The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Fukushima report, released Monday downplays the ongoing environmental and health effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. According to Greenpeace Japan, the report plays into the Abe government's agenda to normalise the ongoing nuclear disaster.
"The IAEA concludes that no discernible health consequences are expected as a result of the Fukushima disaster, but admits important uncertainties in both radiation dose and long-term effects. Nobody knows how much radiation citizens were exposed to in the immediate days following the disaster. If you don't know the doses, then you can't conclude there won't be any consequences. To say otherwise is political rhetoric, not science," said Kendra Ulrich, senior global energy campaigner with Greenpeace Japan.
"Even the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has concluded that there is no safe level of radiation exposure. To intentionally subject nuclear victims to raised radiation levels is unjustified, particularly when we have the tragic reminder of Chernobyl where we saw increased rates of cancers more than five years after the crisis."
"The IAEA report actively supports the Abe government's and the global nuclear industry's agenda to make it appear that things can return to normal after a nuclear disaster. But there is nothing normal about the lifestyle and exposure rates that the victims are being asked to return to. What is clear is that the Japanese government has utterly failed to learn the lessons of the Fukushima nuclear accident, as is shown by the NRA ignoring outstanding safety issues in order to allow the restart of the Sendai nuclear reactor" said Ulrich, in reference to page 3 of the IAEA report.
The Japanese government is systematically lifting evacuation orders in progressively more contaminated areas, attempting to increase the public's tolerance for what is an acceptable limit of radiation to which the Fukushima victims are exposed.
A Greenpeace Japan investigation in July this year, for instance, revealed radioactive contamination in the forests and land of Iitate district in Fukushima prefecture so widespread and at such a high level that it will be impossible for people to safely return to their homes. Decontamination has been restricted to limited areas, and does not even attempt to address the vast expanses of contaminated forests and waterways. Given that many former residents will no longer be able to work in their previous lines of work due to the environmental contamination, it is intolerable to state that a lack of income is an acceptable "constraint" for the lives of the victims, as the IAEA report implies.
In May, Greenpeace Japan released an analysis of the IAEA summary report, which is still applicable to our preliminary reading of the full IAEA report. Greenpeace is currently reviewing the multiple technical documents and annexes released together with the Fukushima report.
Greenpeace is a global, independent campaigning organization that uses peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.
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An analysis released Thursday estimates that the Republican legislation on the brink of final passage in Congress would deliver over $1 trillion in combined tax breaks to the richest 1% of Americans over the next decade—an amount roughly equal to the bill's unprecedented cuts to Medicaid.
The new analysis by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP), which utilizes data from the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation and other sources, finds that the "tiny sliver of affluent families" in the top 1% of the U.S. income distribution will "receive tax cuts totaling $1.02 trillion over the next decade."
The centerpiece of Trump's megabill is a trillion-dollar tax cut to the wealthy, paid for by increasing the national debt and cutting public services. pic.twitter.com/ISr2XuIdJQ
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In its report released on Thursday, Amnesty cites "heartbreaking testimonies gathered from medical staff, parents of children hospitalized for malnutrition, and displaced Palestinians struggling to survive" to document "acute levels of starvation and desperation in Gaza."
The report pins the primary blame for this situation on Israel's insistence on running what Amnesty describes as a "militarized" system for delivering humanitarian aid via the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that has resulted in hundreds of Palestinians being killed and thousands more being injured by Israeli forces who have opened fire on civilians seeking food in multiple instances.
Amnesty charges that the Israeli government has barred the United Nations and other international humanitarian assistance organizations from operating inside Gaza and has transformed the process of receiving aid into a "booby trap" for civilians who risk getting shot while standing in line for food. Compounding the problem, writes Amnesty, is that Israel is delivering a level of aid that is "way below the humanitarian needs of a population that has been experiencing almost daily bombings for the last 20 months."
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If fully convicted, Orellana—a U.S. Marine Corps veteran with no criminal record—could face up to five years behind bars.
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Notable CSO members have included César Chávez and Dolores Huerta of United Farm Workers, both of whom were targeted for FBI surveillance under longtime Director J. Edgar Hoover's COINTELPRO program.
Centro CSO was born out of CSO in the 2000s to "fight against the war in Iraq, and military recruiters, and also the fight for public education," longtime member Carlos Montes told Los Angeles Public Press. Another Centro CSO member, Sammy Carrera, told the outlet that the arrest of Orellana and seizure of Topete's phone are a continuation of state suppression of CSO.
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