Lighting a candle for Fukushima

Starting at 6pm on Tuesday April 26, a candlelight vigil will be held outside the Sydney Opera House to commemorate the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster and to show support for Japan’s suffering in the face of the ongoing Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The evening is supported by a number of groups – Japanese for Peace, Australian Conservation Foundation, the Australian Student Environment Network, Unions NSW, and the Medical Association for the Prevention of War, among others.

Julie Macken, spokesperson for Greenpeace, says that, “This is an opportunity for the people of Sydney to come out and show their support for the people of Fukushima and Chernobyl. We want to let them know their suffering is not forgotten and that our hearts are with them as they try to restore their lives and their communities.”

Even now, cancer specialists from four Japanese hospitals are arguing in an open letter the notable British medical journal, The Lancet, that the Japanese nuclear industry is resisting calls to store the Fukushima workers’ stem cells. With the process of shutting down the reactors at Fukushima expected to take years, the risk of workers being exposed to dangerous or lethal doses of radiation is set to grow.

Such stem cells would become crucial in any future treatment of workers suffering tumours or other radiation-linked abnormalities. But the doctors have openly pointed the finger – arguing that the nuclear industry has refused to store the workers’ cells for fear of harm to its reputation.

Discussing the nuclear lobby’s push to rebrand nuclear as the eco-friendly solution to global warming, Greenpeace’s Macken responds that “it is offensive that the nuclear industry and those who profit from this devastating source of power should attempt to paint it as safe, green, or as any kind of solution to climate change.”

On the issue of timing, especially when the disaster in Fukushima is still unfolding, and apparently worsening still, Macken recognizes the role of devil’s advocate. “After paying such a terrible price for this industry,” she says, “the people of Chernobyl and Fukushima deserve the truth and deserve to have their story told. The nuclear lobby call this opportunistic – we call it speaking truth to power.”