Bishop of Sendai: Stop discrimination against the people of Fukushima
Sendai (AsiaNews) - The
radiation that hit the area in Fukushima after the terrible accident of 11
March 2011, "considering the fact that we have enjoyed a high
energy-consuming lifestyle until now...should be addressed not only by residents in and around Fukushima prefecture,
but Japan as a whole". This was stated in a
public appeal by Msgr. Martin
Tetsuo Hiraga, Bishop of Sendai (the diocese which houses the Fukushima plant).
In
the text, the prelate explains that " The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant
Disaster emitted 168 times as much radioactive material as the atomic bomb
dropped on Hiroshima.
This radioactive material has caused serious damage to neighboring prefectures
by emitting high doses of radiation. But it
mainly destroyed the local economy and the hope of recovery for these people:
this is not right, since they are paying for all of us. "
According to Msgr. Hiraga
" Nuclear plants are built on the premise that urban areas are
inappropriate for nuclear plants, which is based on discrimination against
rural areas. During construction, plants divide local residents into supporters
and opponents, destroying communal relations. Once plants start operating, a
huge number of workers are exposed to radiation, and a tremendous amount of
radioactive fallout called "death ash" is generated continuously".
Today
the products that come from Fukushima can not find a buyer, and the children of
the area are not accepted by the schools of other prefectures despite
evacuation orders of government: "This is not right. We must learn to live with the radiation, since
it
is everywhere in Japan.
We must fight to commit the government to find new forms of clean
energy, but in the meantime we can not abandon our brothers. "
The
appeal has produced some fruits, including the visit made yesterday by the
Japanese prime minister Yoshihiko Noda to reactor plants which - after the
earthquake and tsunami - were damaged and continue to contaminate the area. Noda
called for a "rapid decontamination" and, "the support of all
the Japanese people" for the local population.
On
11 March 2011, at 14.46, an earthquake hit the northern coast of Japan. It
soon unleashed a tsunami that swept away towns and villages in the prefectures
of Sendai, Miyagi and Fukushima and caused considerable damage to
the central Daiichi nuclear reactors. More than 19 thousand
people were killed in the tragedy.
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