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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'Do-Nothing' GOP Unveils 'Sham' Biden Impeachment Resolution
One critic said the GOP aims "to give Donald Trump something to say when it's pointed out he has been twice impeached and is a proven fraudster, sexual assailant, and defamer of women who now faces 91 felony charges."
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As a Republican congressman on Thursday introduced an impeachment inquiry resolution targeting U.S. President Joe Biden, leading House Democrats called out the GOP for serving former President Donald Trump and not the American people.
House Resolution 918, led by Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.), formally directs the House Oversight and Accountability, Ways and Means, and Judiciary committees to continue ongoing investigations into whether sufficient grounds exist to impeach Biden. A markup is scheduled for next Tuesday, so a vote may be held as soon as Wednesday.
"This impeachment inquiry is a complete political stunt with zero evidence. What a joke,"
responded Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), president of the House Democratic freshman class.
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) declared that "this MAGA-extremist Biden impeachment resolution is a giant fishing expedition and a continued example of this GOP do-nothing Congress."
House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)—a constitutional scholar who was the lead manager for Trump's historic second impeachment after the January 6, 2021 insurrection—released a lengthy statement blasting the panel's chair, Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), for the "sham" impeachment inquiry.
"Voting to launch an impeachment inquiry will not change the fact that, following many months of endless investigation by House Republicans this Congress and by Senate Republicans in 2020, the evidence plainly shows no evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden, much less an impeachable offense," he said. "Chairman Comer cannot even identify what crime he thinks President Biden has committed."
Raskin highlighted the abundance of evidence collected regarding unfounded allegations of the president's misconduct related to his son Hunter Biden's business dealings and legal issues:
This is what we have assembled from House Republicans' 10-month investigation: more than 37,000 pages of subpoenaed private bank records, more than 2,000 pages of suspicious activity reports (SARs) made available by Treasury, more than 20,000 pages of emails regarding Hunter Biden released by the National Archives, with more than 62,000 additional pages being produced in the next few days, and dozens of hours of witness testimony from Hunter Biden's business associates, then-Vice President Biden's former financial adviser, and nine witnesses from agencies across the administration... All of it shows no misconduct by President Biden.
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Author and rights advocate Naomi Klein warned late Wednesday that supporters of a permanent cease-fire in Gaza must stay focused on one thing—Israel's mass killing of civilians in the blockaded enclave, a violation of international law—and resist efforts to distract the public from the issue at hand.
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Republican members including Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) demanded to know whether the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) would discipline students for "calling for the genocide of Jews."
The university leaders suggested that their schools typically do not punish students for speech alone—in accordance with the U.S. Constitution, Penn president Liz Magill said in a video posted later—but said such calls could qualify as harassment if they were "directed and severe, [or] pervasive," and could be punished if it "crosses into conduct."
Sally Kornbluth, president of MIT, said she had "not heard calling for the genocide of Jews on our campus." Stefanik replied that "chants for intifada"—a call for an "uprising" which is not inherently violent—have been heard at the school.
Videos of students holding an anti-war protest at University of California, Los Angeles were widely circulated in October, with some influential pro-Zionist celebrities and commentators asserting that students were proclaiming, "We want Jewish genocide." The protesters were actually addressing Israeli officials and saying, "We charge you with genocide."
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The hearing wasn't the first to confront speech on college campuses since Israel began its U.S.-backed onslaught in Gaza, which has killed at least 17,177 Palestinians in just two months. Last month the House Judiciary Committee invited student leaders of conservative and pro-Zionist groups to testify about "hostility towards certain points of view" on campuses, and the hearing was interrupted by pro-Palestinian rights students who demanded to know whether their speech should also be protected.
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The workers, who include teachers and healthcare and hospitality professionals, said they had shut down plants in Bournemouth, Lancashire, Brighton, and Glasgow.
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Protesters carried banners reading, "Weapons made here kill in Gaza" and, "This factory arms genocide."
More than 200 trade unionists also blocked two entrances at BAE System's Samlesbury Aerodrome in Lancashire, which makes rear fuselages for all F-35s, the group said.
Workers for a Free Palestine also blockaded the BAE Govan site in Glasgow, which makes components for the F35s and the Mk 38 Mod 2 machine gun system. In coordination, Brighton & Hove Action for Palestine protested the L3Harris Release & Integrated Solutions Ltd factory in Brighton, which equips U.S.-made F-16s and F-35s. Workers for a Free Palestine also said that allied groups were carrying out similar actions in Denmark, France, and the Netherlands. Workers protested Exxelia in Paris and Terma Group in Denmark and the Netherlands, Al Mayadeen Englishreported.
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"Palestinian trade unions call on our counterparts internationally and all people of conscience to end all forms of complicity with Israel's crimes—most urgently halting the arms trade with Israel, as well as all funding and military research," Workers in Palestine wrote. "The time for action is now—Palestinian lives hang in the balance."
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"We salute all those in the trade union movement taking a stand to disrupt the flow of arms to Israel," Workers in Palestine said in a statement to Tribune. "Shutting down four factories across the U.K. today, along with several simultaneous blockades in Europe, are critical acts of solidarity, refusing to conduct business as usual in the face of Israel's relentless bombardment of Gaza and ongoing genocide."
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Before Thursday's action, the group had targeted an Elbit Systems subsidiary factory in Kent in October and another BAE Systems plant in Rochester in November, Tribune reported.
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