Unjust Arrest of a Professor Opposing Debris Incineration in Osaka

This is a letter from Masaki Shimoji, a university associate professor who has been unfairly detained since his sudden arrest on December 9, 2012. The arrest occurred because he walked through the Japan Railways Osaka station on October 17, 2012.  

Please sign this petition to demand the immediate and unconditional release of Associate Professor Masaki Shimoji.

http://keepcivicactivity.jimdo.com/english/

Statement from Dr. Helen Caldicott in support of Professor Shimoji

Professor Shimoji is a brave and moral man who is worried about his students and future generations. It is imperative that he be supported in his quest to halt incineration of radioactive waste in Osaka and elsewhere in Japan as this will add to the misery, sickness and deaths that will be the Fukushima legacy.

Helen Caldicott

ヘレン・カルディコット博士からの声明文

下地教授は、学生や次世代の人々を気遣う、勇敢で道徳心のある人物です。大阪あるいは日本のその他の地域において、苦しみ、病、死といった福島の遺産を増やすことからも、下地教授の追求する放射能汚染瓦礫焼却停止を、私達がサポートすることは必須です。

ヘレン・カルディコット

Background:

http://keepcivicactivity.jimdo.com/

On December 9, 2012, Masaki Shimoji, an associate professor of economics at Hannan University was arrested by the Osaka Prefectural Police.  This arrest is extremely unjust in form and content.  It is clearly a crackdown on citizens’ movement.

Professor Shimoji and others are opposing the “areawide management of the disaster debris” measure, which intended to spread, incinerate and bury harmful substances in the disaster debris all over Japan that should not be incinerated, such as radioactive material and asbestos.  Osaka-city is trying to begin regular incineration and burial beginning in February 2013.

The following is the timeline for the arrest:

At 3 pm on October 17, 2012, voluntary citizens opposing to test incineration of disaster debris in Osaka-city, including associate professor Shimoji, gathered on the sidewalk outside the northeast corner  of Osaka station.  They began to walk towards Osaka city hall, walking through the east concourse inside Osaka station from north to south.  This act was considered a “violation of Railway Operation Act,” “forcible obstruction of business, “ and ”non-withdrawal,” and used as charges for the arrest.

However, this act of “walking through the station” was conducted nearly two months ago, and it is extremely unnatural for them to arrest him for it now.  We can’t help but consider it as an intentional crackdown on citizens’ movement.

Voluntary citizens including associate professor Shimoji, in consideration of the anxious feelings of mothers with small children, especially those who evacuated from Fukushima Prefecture and Tohoku and Kanto regions to Kansai area, have been actively trying to stop the spread of radioactive contamination.  Fukushima nuclear accident negatively affected the  health and wealth of an enormous number of people.  It is the responsibility of the government, the electric companies and the nuclear industry that should be in question for having forced the operation of nuclear power plants without appropriate safety measures.

December 10, 2012
Civic Activity--an organization supporting citizens opposing spread of radiation

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Letter from Professor Shimoji:

None of the alleged facts of crime in the arrest warrant is true.  I am extremely surprised that the public safety police officers openly arrested me for the alleged facts which differ from the actual facts, despite having been present in the location of the alleged crime and witnessed everything that went on.

Why did the police arrest me going so far as lying in the arrest warrant?  The reason is because I opposed the restart of nuclear power plants and have participated in a citizens’ movement opposing the spread of radiation.  In particular, I have severely criticized the wrongful conduct by the police which I encountered during my activities.  I have done nothing wrong.

Currently, Japan where we live as well as the entire world are in a critical situation.  Fukushima nuclear accident is not over, and if the spent-fuel pool in reactor 4 collapses, it is not too much to say that it could lead to a massive disaster which could end not only Japan but the rest of the world.  Radioactive contamination has not been properly dealt with at all, and the contamination is being spread through the circulation of food and other goods.  In the midst of this situation, the government lies about “insufficient electricity” to try to continue using nuclear power plants.  This is nothing but insanity.

What sort of measures the government will take in the next six months to one year will change our future to a great extent.  Every day I look at my students and wonder what sort of world they will live in when these 20-year-olds turn forty like me.  Each time I think about it, I feel sorry, as the older generation, about not being able to prevent this nuclear accident.  They are not guilty of any wrongdoing.  I would like to do the little I can do in order to leave the world in a better shape than this.  Since the accident already happened, there is not much time left for us.  However, there is still hope.

I am not able to move around at this time.  However, I haven’t given up.  I can send my voice out like this.  And if many more of you take an action and raise your voices, we will certainly make it in time.

I would especially like to call to individuals who teach at a university like me and also those called specialists such as physicians and scientists.  Please learn particularly from citizens who might appear to “be ignorant and lack calmness.”  Please speak out for those whose voices are being ignored and taken lightly.

Truth only appears through criticisms and responses.  It’s not what is talked about by authorities such as the government.  Go to the opposite side, and act so that the truth is revealed by posing questions against the authorities.  It is okay even if you are wrong.  Always be on the side of the weak and protect their words and existence which are always taken lightly.  Even if you might be wrong, speak paradoxically so that the truth would be revealed through an exchange of statements with the authority.  It doesn’t matter what your specialty field is.  Please be brave.

Lastly, I would like to speak about the issue of disaster debris with which I have been most deeply involved.  The city of Osaka forced the test incineration in the end of November and is getting ready for the start of regular incineration in February 2013.  As I have repeatedly stated everywhere, the areawide management of disaster debris will not be good for anybody.  It is not even supporting the disaster-affected area: it steals from the recovery budget and interferes with the recovery process.  At the same time, it will spread radiation all over the place, forcing the residents of contaminated areas to resign themselves to tolerate radiation despite opposition and mitigating responsibility of the Tokyo Electric Power Company as the perpetrator.  The price to be paid for this is our lives, and lives of the children and the children yet to be born.  Such nonsense measures should not be tolerated.  We absolutely must stop them.  Those of you who have been learning about this and causing actions together, please do not give up.  Keep fighting.  Also, those of you who didn’t know about the issue of disaster debris, please learn about it now so that you can lend us your power.  This is a fight to protect nothing other than our own future itself.

I don’t know when I will be released from confinement, but I will be released someday.  Even though I am not physically there, my thoughts are with you.  My colleagues who have been unjustly arrested must be feeling the same way during their confinement.  I am looking forward to seeing you soon.

December 12, 2012
Masaki Shimoji

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We are collecting individual and group statements from all over the world in support of freeing Professor Shimoji.  Please send them with your name, name of your organization if any, and your address to frcsrus@gmail.com

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Japanese version of the letter can be found in the following link:
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/garekitaiho1113/e/79c68fd4e86da4ec02b2e01a5188052b

逮捕状の被疑事実は、すべて、事実ではありません。当日現場にいた公安の警察官もすべてを見ていたはずなのに、堂々と事実と異なる被疑事実に基づいて逮捕を行ったことに、とても驚いています。
　なぜ警察がウソをついてまで私を逮捕するのか。それは私が、原発の再稼働に反対し、放射能の拡散に反対する市民運動に参加してきたからであり、とりわけ、運動の中で出会った警察の不正行為についても厳しく批判してきたからです。悪いことはなにもしていません。

　いま、私たちが暮らす日本は、そして世界は、危機的な状況にあります。福島の原発事故はいまだ収束せず、4号機の使用済み核燃料プールが倒壊すれば、日 本だけでなく、世界が終わると言っても過言ではない大惨禍をもたらすことになるでしょう。放射能汚染への対応もまったくできておらず、食品その他の流通を 通じて、汚染は拡大しつつあります。そんな中、「電気が足りない」とうそぶき、原発を使い続けようとしているのです。すべてが狂っているとしか言いようが ありません。

　この半年か1年の間に、政府がどのような施策を行うか、それによって私たちの未来は大きく変わるでしょう。日々、学生たちの顔を見ながら思います。二十 歳そこそこの彼らが私と同じ四十歳になる頃、どんな世界に暮らすことになるのかと。そのたびに、今回の原発事故を防げなかったこと、先輩世代として申し訳 なく思います。彼らには罪はないのですから。せめて、少しでもマシな世界を残せるよう、微力を尽くしたいと思っています。事故はすでに起きてしまいました から、時間はあまり残されていません。しかし、希望はあります。

　私は、いま、動くことができなくなりました。でも、諦めてはいません。こうして、私の声を外に届けることもできます。そして、もっと多くのみなさんが行動してくれれば、声をあげてくれれば、きっとまだ間に合います。
　私はとりわけ、私と同じように大学で教えている人、医師や科学者などなんらかの意味で専門家と呼ばれている人たちに呼びかけたいと思います。「無知で冷 静さを欠いている」かのように見える市民にこそ学んで下さい。その声が無視され、軽んじられている人のために語って下さい。

　真実は、批判と応答を通じて初めて、姿を現します。政府をはじめとする権威が語ることではなく、その反対側に立ち、権威に対して反問することを通じて真 実が明らかになるように行動して下さい。まちがってもいいのです。常に弱い側に立ち、その軽んじられる言葉や存在を擁護し、自らが仮にまちがうとしても、 逆説的に、権威との言説の応酬の中で真実が明らかになるように、語って下さい。あなたの専門分野が何であるかは、関係がありません。勇気をもって下さい。

　最後に、私がもっとも深く関わってきた震災がれきの問題について述べます。大阪市は11月末に試験焼却を強行し、来年2月の本焼却開始に向けて着々と準備を進めています。
何度もあちこちで述べてきましたように、震災がれきの広域処理は誰のためにもなりません。それは被災地支援どころか復興予算の横取りであり、かえって復興 の足を引っぱります。同時に、放射能をばらまき、かつ、汚染地の人々に放射能を受忍させ、加害者である東京電力の責任を軽減するものです。代償は、私たち の、子どもたちの、そして、これから生まれてくる子どもたちの命です。こんなデタラメな施策が許されていいはずがありません。絶対に止めなければなりませ ん。これまでともに学び、取り組んできたみなさん、諦めずに戦ってください。また、これまで震災がれき問題について知らなかったみなさん、是非、今からで も知って力を貸して下さい。これは、私たちの未来そのものを守るための戦いです。

　私はいつ出られるかわかりません。でも、いつかきっと出られます。姿は見えなくても、心はともにあります。この間、不当に逮捕されている他の仲間たちもきっと同じ気持ちです。みなさんに会える日をたのしみにしています。

２０１２．１２．１２　下地真樹

Fukushima Thyroid Examination Part 3

The Ninth Report of Fukushima Prefecture Health Management Survey was released on November 18, 2012.

The thyroid examination section of the survey is shown in this link.
http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/imu/kenkoukanri/241118koujyousen.pdf

It contains new thyroid examination results from August 25, 2012 through September 28, 2012, added to the previous results from the first five months of Fiscal Year Heisei 24 (FYH24), from April 1 through August 24, 2012.  Up to November 1, 2012, 76,357 of eligible 89,662 children underwent the examination in FYH24.  

The results up to September 28, 2012 revealed that 24,682 (42.7%) of 57,840 children had thyroid ultrasound abnormalities.  Together with 38,114 children (13,645 or 35.8% had thyroid ultrasound abnormalities) tested in the last half of Fiscal Year Heisei 23 (FYH23)  from October 2011 through March 2012, a total of 38,327 (39.9%) of 95,954 Fukushima children have been found to have ultrasound abnormalities.  

Most significantly, there was a child, a female in the 16 to 18 age group, with a C assessment in the new results, requiring an immediate secondary examination.  This was the first time there was a C assessment.

Even though the percentage of abnormalities from FYH24 at 42.7% was slightly less than the previous report at 43.1%, the overall abnormalities remain essentially the same at 40%.  Moreover, there are higher proportions of nodules over 10.1 mm than the increase in the total number of children examined.  As before, a higher proportion of abnormalities was seen in female children in all age groups in the A2 assessment and in age groups older than 6 in the B assessment.

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Consideration was given to increase the number of children who could be examined by offering the examination for grade school and junior high school students at schools where the children attend .  In addition, public venues with good traffic access were chosen as the examination sites.

As there are over 155,000 children eligible to undergo the examination in FYH24, efforts were made to structure a more effective and efficient examination system so that the examination implementation period may be shortened:
   ● Try to obtain a facility where 700 to 800 may be examined per day.
   ● In actually implementing the examination, manage the sensitivity of the equipment in order to achieve an examination with high standards.  Attempt to examine 700 to 800 children by structuring a more effective reception and guidance.

Moreover, as of November 1, 2012, the thyroid examination began at facilities outside Fukushima Prefecture for those children who have evacuated Fukushima.

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FYH24 (FY2012) implementation schedule includes the following municipalities:

September to early October 2012: 18,061 children from Nihonmatsu, Motomiya and Otama.
Early to mid October 2012:  4,757 children from Koori, Ten-ei, and Kunimi.
Mid October to late November 2012:  14,655 children from Shirakawa, Nishigo and Izumizaki.Early October 2012 to late March 2013： 64,478 children from Koriyama.
Mid January 2013 to late March 2012:  3,139 children from Miharu-machi, the only municipality whose residents were administered stable iodine prophylaxis.

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Note:
H23 refers to Heisei Year 23, which is the same as 2011.
FYH23 refers to Fiscal Year Heisei 23 which runs from April 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012.
H24 refers to Heisei Year 24, which is the same as 2012.
FYH24 refers to Fiscal Year Heisei 24 which runs from April 1, 2012 through March 31, 2012.

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For a complete English translation of the thyroid examination section of the Sixth and Seventh Reports of Fukushima Prefecture Health Management Survey, please refer to these links.
http://fukushimavoice-eng.blogspot.com/2012/07/thyroid-examination-by-fukushima.html
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B68f83tqq7QuZUdCZXhTLVl2dEE/edit?pli=1

For an excerpted English translation of the thyroid examination section of the Eighth Report of Fukushima Prefecture Health Management Survey, please refer to this link.
http://fukushimavoice-eng.blogspot.com/2012/09/fukushima-thyroid-examination-part-2.html

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The Ninth Report of Fukushima Prefecture Health Management Survey (excerpt)
November 18, 2012

Summary of Thyroid Examination Results ①





[Explanation of assessment classifications]
・A1 and A2 will be observed until the next round of examinations (after FYH26 or FY2014).
・B and C will undergo secondary examination.  (Notice of the date and place of the secondary examination will be sent to them).
※A2 will be treated as B if the thyroid gland condition warrants the need for a secondary examination.
※Examination results for FYH24 (FY2012) include completed results up to September 28, 2012.
※Some cases have both nodules and cysts.

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Summary of Thyroid Examination Results ②

1. Distribution by age and gender for each assessment classification category.
(For each category the left column shows the number of boys, the middle column shows the number of girls, and the right column shows the total, based on age groups in five-year intervals.)
The upper table is for FYH23 (FY2011).  The lower table is for FYH24 (FY2012), which shows the completed results up to September 28, 2012.




2. Proportion of each assessment classification category by age.  
In the tables of horizontal bar graphs, the left table is for boys and the right for girls.  For each age group, in five-year intervals, the top bar shows FYH23 (FY2011) and the bottom bar FYH24 (FY2012).   



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Details of Thyroid Examination Results (FYH24 Exam: Cysts)


①　Size breakdown of cysts found at thyroid examination conducted in FYH24 (FY2012)

※1 Assessment classification based on the size of the cysts alone.
※2 The reason the size group “～3.0 mm” is put together with “No cysts present” in the proportion is because in ordinary medical examination cysts smaller than 3.0 mm are treated as no cysts.

② Size distribution of cysts

Total Results

●Of 57,840 who were examined in FYH24 (FY2012), 33,460 or 57.8%(64.9% in FYH23) had no cysts.  
 In addition, cysts equal to or smaller than 3.0 mm are considered not to be cysts in ordinary medical examinations, and 13,995 had cysts equal to or smaller than 3.0 mm.
 These two groups comprised 47,455 or 82.0% (83.3% in FYH23) of the total examined.

● Difference by gender was barely seen up to 3.0 mm and over 10.1 mm, but the incidence in girls tended to be higher in sizes between 3.1 mm and 10.0 mm.
   Difference by age groups showed cysts up to 3.0 mm were seen most frequently in the age 6-10 group, with incidence gradually decreasing with increasing age.

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Details of Thyroid Examination Results (FYH24 Exam: Nodules)

①　Size breakdown of nodules found at thyroid examination conducted in FYH24 (FY2012)


② Size distribution of nodules

Total Results

●Of 57,840 who were examined in FYH24 (FY 2012), 538 or 0.9% (1.0% in FYH23) had nodules.

●Of 538 who had nodules, 307, or 0.5% of the total examined, had nodules large enough to require secondary examination.
 In addition, 198 of the 307 mentioned above had nodules which were 5.1 mm to 10.0 mm in size, comprising 64.5% (68.5 in FYH23) of the 307 requiring secondary examination.

●109 had nodules which were larger than 10.0 mm, and its proportion was even lower at 0.19% of the total examined.

●Difference by gender showed a tendency for more girls in both nodules up to 5.0 mm and larger than 5.1 mm.


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Implementation Status of FYH24 (FY2012) Secondary Thyroid Examination

■Summary of Secondary Thyroid Examination (All-prefecture Preliminary Examination)

1. Examination implementation policy
　● If lumps (nodular lesions) are found during the primary thyroid examination, then  a secondary examination (detailed ultrasound examination, blood test, urine test, biopsy if needed) will be conducted at Fukushima Medical University Hospital.
　● A2 will be treated as B and secondary examination implemented if the thyroid gland condition warrants the need for secondary examination.
　● Those qualifying for secondary examination will be notified of the time and place of the  secondary examination at a later date by the Fukushima Medical University Radiation Medicine Prefecture Health Management Survey Center.
   ● Notification for the secondary examination is provided in the order the primary examination was done, but a priority is given for the implementation of the secondary examination to those who are considered to require an early examination.
   ● Results of the secondary examination will be directly explained to those examined.
   ● Locations will be established outside Fukushima Medical University for the secondary examination by the end of this fiscal year.

■ Schedule Plan of Secondary Thyroid Examination (All-prefecture Preliminary Examination)

FYH23 examination: 186 qualified.
                                 Conducted from March 2012 to the end of November 2012.
                                 102 already had more than one examination.
FYH24 examination: 315 qualified.
                                 Currently being conducted.
                                 Includes those who completed the primary examination by September          
                                    28, 2012.  (Priorities are given as needed).
                                  Fukushima-city residents will have the secondary examination
                                    implemented before March 2013.                              

■　Implementation status of secondary thyroid examination (All-prefecture preliminary examination).  (As of November 5, 2012)


 
※1 Those who will be re-checked at the standard examination after April 2014 due to the absence of abnormalities.
※2 Those who have moved onto regular medical care schedule, to be re-checked mostly 6 months to one year later.

Are 36% Thyroid Cysts in Tokyo Children a Good Comparison to Fukushima Thyroid Findings?

On December 1, 2012, the following article was published in Asahi Shimbun.  (Complete translation to follow after this article).


The headline states that 36% of children in Tokyo was found to have thyroid cysts.  Data mentioned is from 2,753 children who had thyroid ultrasound examinations done at a Tokyo thyroid clinic, Ito Hospital, from 2003 to August 2012.  The article concludes that this data, inclusive of data prior to the Fukushima nuclear accident, must mean thyroid ultrasound abnormalities in Fukushima children represent a normal incidence of such abnormalities.  

However, it is not clear how many of the 2,753 children were actually tested in the eight-year period from 2003 up to March 11, 2011, as opposed to the seventeen-month period from the accident up to August 2012.  As thyroid ultrasound examinations are rarely conducted in children under normal, non-radioactive circumstances, due to the rarity of thyroid disease in children, it is difficult to think the 2,753 can be evenly distributed from year to year as in 300 per year.  According to this article, Ito Hospital did not seem to specifically provide pre-accident findings.  Moreover, Ito Hospital is a facility authorized by the Japan Thyroid Association whose president, the infamous Shunichi Yamashita of Fukushima Medical University, sent the following letter to its members in January 2012.

http://fukushimavoice-eng.blogspot.com/2012/05/fukushima-childrens-thyroid-examination.html

Due to the lack of more detailed information such as the number of children examined in each year showing the change from year to year as well as the number of children actually examined up to March 2011, we can only speculate what the 36% might entail.

The newspaper article mentions that 189 children had multiple ultrasound examinations.  It seems likely that these 189 might belong to the pre-accident group, as anecdotal stories tell us most who got the ultrasound examination after the accident were told to follow up in one year.  

It is beyond our comprehension why this hospital would not provide more accurate data for comparison.  If they did provide it, why wouldn’t the newspaper cover it more accurately?    Does the data provide conclusive evidence of the impact of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear accident?

　　　＊＊＊

Complete translation of the newspaper article:

In relation to the many findings of cysts (fluid-filled sac) in thyroid examination of children in Fukushima Prefecture, a similar ratio of about 3,000 children was found to have cysts at a Tokyo hospital.  Dr. Kenji Iwaku at Ito Hospital in Tokyo reported it at the Japan Thyroid Association meeting on November 30.

Specialists say that “This data includes pre-accident data for comparison.  It is not likely that cysts found in Fukushima children are due to radiation exposure.”

According to the report, the data was the compilation of thyroid ultrasound results in 2,753 children under age 15 conducted at Ito Hospital from 2003 up to August 2012.  The result showed that 36% of the children had thyroid cysts.  

189 children had multiple ultrasound examinations: 42% saw an improvement with cysts getting smaller or resolving; 14% had cysts that became larger; and the remaining 44% saw no changes.  No children developed malignant disease such as cancer during the follow-up.

Because there was an increase in pediatric thyroid cancer after the Chernobyl nuclear accident in former USSR, Fukushima Prefecture has been conducting thyroid ultrasound examination in children under age 18.  Cysts were found in 35% of children tested last fiscal year and 42% this fiscal year so far.

The lack of comparative data in children in other areas has raised the voice that the cysts might be due to the effect of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident.

Shigenobu Nagataki, Nagasaki University emeritus professor in thyroid disease, said, “The data reported is from the study conducted using similar ultrasound equipments to what was used in Fukushima Prefecture.  It also includes data from pre-accident years.  Cysts in Fukushima children cannot be due to radiation.”

As the comparison to the Fukushima examination, the government plans on conducting thyroid ultrasound examinations outside Fukushima Prefecture, such as in Nagasaki Prefecture, for about 4,500 children.

Fukushima Prefecture’s New Cancer Center: “Recovery” Vision by Fukushima Medical University

As early as September 2011, merely six months after the Fukushima accident, Fukushima Medical University had already decided to build a new, state-of-the-art cancer center with extensive affiliation with pharmaceutical and other medical industry.

Source: article in Fukushima Mimpo on September 20, 2011
http://www.minpo.jp/pub/topics/jishin2011/2011/09/post_1965.html

Fukushima Medical University revealed a summary of their “recovery vision” towards the regionalization of radiation medical care on September 20, 2011.  It will build a new 330-bed Radiation Medicine Prefecture Resident Health Management Center within 5 years.  The center will have specialists within the nation as medical and research staff in order to raise the standard of cancer care in Fukushima Prefecture to the highest level in the nation.  They will also establish medical seminars, specifically for medical care for radiation exposure, to educate medical care providers.  They anticipate an expense of 10 billion yen (about $130 million) and are asking the government to incorporate it into the tertiary supplementary budget proposal together with the prefecture.

The plan is to use available areas such as parking lots within the medical university for new buildings.  Radiation Medicine Prefecture Resident Health Management Center will be the focal point of providing early medical care for cancer.  Departments of  thyroid surgery, hematology, radiology and dermatology will be moved from the medical university hospital to the new center so that the specialists will be onsite, in order to aim towards sophistication of medical care.  Since the effect of radiation on infants, small children and pregnant women will be a special concern, the center will also have pediatric and obstetrics departments.  

The center will be a nine-story building made of steel and concrete with a total area of 29,000 m2.  It will be slightly smaller than the current medical university hospital.

The center will additionally have two molecular imaging facilities for early detection of illnesses.  It will include latest equipments such as PET scan and Cyclotron used for diagnosis of cancer, super-high resolution CT scan, and whole body counter for measurement of internal radiation exposure.

It will also have a center for drug development and clinical trial to advance the development of pharmaceutical agents for cancer treatment.  There will be a research and laboratory facility which will analyze the results of Health Management Survey, which is geared towards the entire prefectural residents, and also develop new cancer treatments.

Medical seminars will be specific for medical care for radiation exposure, and its attendance capacity is being determined.  The medical school will request that the government increase the number of students allowed at the school for the new medical seminars.  It will also consider increasing the number of physicians sent to public hospitals in order to raise the standard of medical care within the prefecture.

It also plans on congregating medical industry related to radiation.  It will establish a Fukushima Center for Promotion of Medical Industry as a research facility for industry-academic cooperation.   This center will cooperate with local and international corporations to promote a development of equipments used for examination, diagnosis and treatment in radiation medicine.  They hope to attract companies which will be research partners, leading to activation of regional industry as well as job creation.

A big challenge will be to secure personnel in order to realize the plan.  At least several tens of physicians and professors will be needed for the new facilities and seminars.  It has already been agreed that they will come from both Hiroshima and Nagasaki Universities which they have a cooperation agreement with in regards to radiation medicine.  In the future they will work with related institutions within the country to secure medical and research staff.

The plan combined the government’s basic recovery policy for Fukushima Prefecture which incorporates establishment of a center for radiation medicine and the recovery vision of the prefecture.

Vice president Yokoyama of Fukushima Medical University who is in charge of the recovery business at Fukushima Medical University says, “We would like to secure safety and a sense of relief for the prefectural residents by arranging for the latest treatment and diagnosis in our prefecture that had the nuclear power plant accident.  Our goal is ‘a region where you can live the healthiest in the entire Japan’.”

The prefecture thinks the plan matches the government’s basic recovery policy, and they are sure there is a high possibility that the expense will be approved in the government’s tertiary supplementary budget.