Thursday, August 22, 2013

A mother in Fukushima has her say.

I was suddenly contacted this evening by a producer for the BBC World Service's program "Have Your Say".  With the recent news of leaks at the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima (NYTimes story HERE), they were preparing an episode called "Fukushima: nuclear threat raised after leak".

World Have Your Say

They asked me if I could talk about what some of the families living in Fukushima have shared with me about this new leak and what life in general is like for them.  In the hour and half I had to prepare before the program aired live, I called Mrs. Sugano, one of the mothers who appears in my documentary 'A2-B-C' (WEBSITE), and asked her what she wanted to share with the world about what is happening in Fukushima right now.

The 30-minute program "Fukushima: nuclear threat raised after leak" is available for streaming and download for free (HERE). I speak twice in the program, once towards the beginning and once towards the end.

There wasn't enough time in the program to convey all of what Mrs. Sugano wanted to share, so I would like to add some of her thoughts here:
  • I am so nervous and scared for my children, but I'm afraid if my children sense that then this will cause them to become anxious.  So I just try to keep all of my feelings inside and put on a happy face.  Not being able to let out my feelings causes me more anxiety, and I'm feeling sick.
  • It is our human right to live in a safe environment with safe food and safe water.  This basic human right is being taken away from us.
  • We knew all along that water was leaking from the plant, that is why I have not given my children tap water or local food from Fukushima since the nuclear accident.  I preferred to err on the side of caution rather than to regret it later.  But now I know I made the right decision.
  • This issue of contaminated water being released into the ocean means that this accident is no longer just our problem in Japan.  This is affecting the entire world.
  • I just can not understand why TEPCO, a private company, is allowed to continue to be in charge of getting things under control at the plant.  But honestly, I don't think that even the Japanese government can handle it at this point.  We need to ask the world for help.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for all you've done Ian

Pat Bennett said...

Did Malcolm even get your point? Or say there isn't enough evidence, so far, that there is any danger to worry about?

Ian Thomas Ash said...

Thank you so much for your comments.

Pat, no, I don't think that Malcolm is willing to admit the truth: by the time a "peer-reviewed" study comes out, it is going to be too late to help protect these children. The children need to be protected now, before there is this so-called "irrefutable evidence". I was shocked at his callousness and disappointed that the BBC allowed him to have the last word on this. He seemed to suggest that the children had been given iodine tablets which is simply not true; at best he has been ill-informed, and at worst he is telling a downright lie.