24.07.2019 A year before the start of the Tokyo Olympics, the nuclear disaster in Fukushima is not under control. In radiation protection suits, with the Olympic rings supplemented by a radioactivity symbol and a redesigned Olympic torch, the activists drew attention to the continuing danger posed by the damaged reactors in Fukushima. They stressed that the Olympic Games should not be used to divert attention from the fate of the inhabitants of the irradiated regions and the continuing radioactive threat.
Campaign representative Dr. Jörg Schmid (IPPNW Germany) said: "We understand the aim of the Olympics in Japan as an attempt to present a normality to the world that simply does not exist in the areas affected by radioactive fallout." He appealed to athletes and sport officials to be aware of the continuing problems of the population of the radioactively contaminated regions of northeast Japan. These people have to accept radiation doses that violate international regulations on radiation protection. "The population is deliberately exposed to a clear health risk. This is unacceptable," says Schmid.
A letter was read by Takashi Nakajima, chairman of a group of plaintiffs against the Japanese energy supplier TEPCO, who accuses the Japanese government of "lying about Fukushima" and who talked about the continuing radioactive contamination of the ocean. "If one tries to conceal the nuclear catastrophe, does not investigate the causes and the real damage and does not help the victims, there is a great possibility that such a nuclear catastrophe will repeat itself".
Dr. Anette Bänsch-Richter-Hansen (IPPNW) pointed out that sports facilities in Fukushima City had been chosen to host softball and baseball games for both symbolic and political reasons. Even the symbolic first competitions of the Olympic Games are to take place here.
Yoko Schlütermann (German-Japanese Society, Dortmund) wrote to the president of the German Olympic Sports Federation, Alfons Hörmann, asking him to give up the competitions in Fukushima City. She also pointed out that "the decontamination work in Fukushima is not progressing because of the Olympic Games, as many construction workers are employed in Tokyo".
IPPNW information on the 2020 Olympic Games in Japan can be found at ippnw.de/bit/info-tokyo_en
Further information about the campaign “Tokyo 2020 – The Radioactive Olympics” can be found at www.radioactive-olympics.org
Contact: Dr. Jörg Schmid, Dr. Annette Bänsch-Richter-Hansen, Email: olympia2020@IPPNW.de, Tel. 030/698074-15
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