Letter from the Mayor of Futaba, once next door to Fukushima

[Octafish]

Say no to nuclear energy

Mayor of Sosnovy Bor,

Location of Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant

Dear Mr. Mayor,

My name is Katsutaka Idogawa. At the time of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, which resulted in a radiation catastrophe, I was the Mayor of Futaba, the town closest to the Fukushima Daiichi plant. I write this letter to you, the Mayor of Sosnovy Bor, the town closest to the Leningrad power plant, as someone who has had a similar mandate and responsibility to his constituents.

I would like to caution you against making the mistakes I did, which I greatly regret.

In 2005, I became the Mayor of Futaba, a town in which the Tokyo Electrical Power Company (TEPCO) had already built a nuclear power station. I had great trust in the vision and statements of the nuclear industry, which told me that a nuclear power plant would work well and bring happiness and prosperity to my town.

It is now apparent that this vision was a lie. A terrible catastrophe began at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor on March 11, 2011. Later there were explosions at 3 nuclear reactors and radiation accidents at 4 spent fuel basins. The level of radiation in my town has since risen tremendously. Radiometres by my office window have registered radiation levels that were off the charts. There was no information on how to proceed – neither from the power plant, nor the government – and so, I took the decision to evacuate the residents of Futaba town. I hope that you will never be in the position to have to evacuate residents of Sosnovy Bor because of a radiation accident at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant or Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant Two, which is currently under construction.

The residents of Futaba, myself included, have had to leave our town because of the radiation catastrophe. We have been displaced and abandoned.

I urge you to not repeat my mistakes! Do not let the nuclear industry compromise the future of your town, the future of your country as well as the lives and health of your citizens.

There is a Japanese proverb which states that everything happens in threes. Three serious radiation accidents have already taken place: at Three Miles Island NPP (USA, 1979), at Chernobyl NPP (USSR, Ukraine, 1986) and at Fukushima Daiichi NPP (Japan, 2011). Our mission is to stop any more catastrophes from happening and this is something which we must achieve.

Say no to nuclear energy! Fight for a nuclear-free future for your town, for your country and for the world. Fight for a future in which there is no more nuclear waste production, and in which there is no room for radiation accidents and catastrophes.

Sincerely yours,

Katsutaka Idogawa

CONTINUED with an interview with Mayor Katsutaka...

http://www.bellona.org/articles/articles_2013/futaba_sosnovy_bor

“After the catastrophe at Fukushima Daiichi NPP, it was as if the Japanese people opened their eyes and realized that it was the experts and activists who had been right, saying that nuclear energy was dangerous and unneeded, and representatives of the nuclear industry, who had been praising their trade, turned out to be nothing but cheats,” Tsukagoshi said in a conversation with Bellona.

Money trumps peace... and prosperity and people and the planet...

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Three Mile Island was massively downplayed.

I have no idea how bad it really was, but the Mayor seems to think it was a pretty big deal.

[bvar22]

2. The Lesson from Fukushima:

As long as we use Nuclear Plants,
this and worse
WILL happen again,
and again,
and again.

Man has never created a Fail Safe machine.

[Mnemosyne]

3. You can feel how deep his sorrow goes in reading his words. Thanks Octafish. A continuing nightmare

that is/will be affecting us all, and so many still have no clue.

When will they ever learn how conected it all is?! When it is too late, if it's not already?!

[SomethingFishy]

4. K&R...

I'm sure the pro nuke folks will be here in a moment

[BainsBane]

5. kick

[Overseas]

6. K&R. Yes please!