Ex-workers struggle for compensation over cancers probably caused by nuclear radiation

Tens of thousands of Japaneses are continuing to suffer from the Fukushima nuclear crisis caused by a severe earthquake in 2011, however, few of them has got compensation after they were diagnosed with various cancers due to their contact with the radiation.

One of them chose Mr. A as his alias to tell his story.

Mr. A lives in the city of Sapporo. He went to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in July 2011 though he had no experience of working near nuclear facilities before.

After a simple training, Mr. A put on thick protection suits and started clearing rubbles by operating heavy machines. In places where the heavy machine could not reach, he moved the stones that suffered nuclear pollution.

In October of that year, Mr. A was detected that the radiative materials in his body had reached 56.4 millisieverts, exceeding the upper limit of 50 millisieverts set by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. He was forced to leave the clearing site.

Problems began to appear with his body almost one year later.

“One day I went to the dormitory after work. I found my underwear was totally dyed red when I was bathing. I was shocked and went to hospital,” recalled A.

A was diagnosed with cancer in bladder, and later also cancer in the stomach and colon. Mr. A finally had his bladder and stomach removed for treatment.

He attributed his suffering of cancers to only one reason – the nuclear radiation.

“First, none of my family members suffers cancer. Second, there was no recurrence or metastasis of cancer,” said A.

Mr. A sought for compensation from the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO), but was refused. He then applied for occupational injury at the Tomioka Labour Standards Inspection Office, but was rejected for “having no way to decide the causal relationship between suffering of cancers and the nuclear incident”.

His later requests for examination and reexamination were also turned down.

He had no way but to file a lawsuit in February 2017, asking the Tomioka Labour Standards Inspection Office to rescind the non-occupational injury decision.

“Causing factor of cancer first goes to the family medical history, and then smoking and alcohol, but his slight smoking and alcohol amount is not enough to cause cancer, and none of his family members has suffered cancer. The common reason of the three cancers can only be the radiation he suffered while working at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. We prioritize this causal relationship,” said A’s lawyer Toru Takasaki.

A magnitude-9.0 earthquake in 2011 triggered a massive tsunami which destroyed the emergency power and then the cooling system of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and caused a serious nuclear disaster, forcing some 300,000 people to evacuate.

Nearly 50,000 people have done the clearing working at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant over the past six years. Eleven people have applied for occupational injury confirmation because of cancers by far, but only three have been identified.

“Half of my life has passed, and my body can never restore to the previous healthy state, so I must win the case whatever happens,” said A.