Iwaki Action Mum’s Association, May 13th, 2011
Below is a full translation of the demands made to the mayor of Iwaki City on May 13, 2011 by the Iwaki Action Mum’s Association and No Nukes More Hearts to ensure the safety of children from radioactive contamination from the Fukushima Daichi nuclear accident.
We request the Iwaki city government’s generous support in protecting our precious children’s health from the environmental pollution caused by the Tepco Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident.
① Prohibit both dry and wet unapproved venting at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant site. Make an aggressive proposal to Tepco that they make sure to notify every school, kindergarten and child care facility at least 6 hours prior to venting. (to avoid exposure of unprotected children. Schools, kindergartens and child care facilities must notify parents/caregivers)
② Provide a Geiger counter to every school, kindergarten and childcare facility and establish a system so that all parents / caregivers can check the level of radiation in the facility themselves.
③ Set Iwaki city’s own radiation exposure limit for children that based on the WHO standard rather than the interim radiation exposure limit of 20mSV/y, and protect children in all ways based on that standard.
④ Provide schools, kindergartens and child care facilities iodine tablets for children to take in case of an explosion or emergency venting done to avoid explosion.
⑤ Make clearly know to children and parents the area of origin and radiation level of water and food used in school lunches. Don’t just say it’s safe, supply information based on data. Also if parents wish to send their own packed lunch because of their distrust of the contaminated environment and the government, allow them to.
⑥ Instruct children thoroughly in how to dress safely during commuting to and from school. We will expect the local government to instruct children to wear masks, raincoats and hats; just as we do at home.
⑦ Seasonal events such as swimming lessons and “athletic day” need to be carefully assessed to avoid further radiation exposure. Prepare for immediate decontamination, such as replacement of soil on the playground and washing off of the walls.
⑧ Check the sewage radiation level where it is identified to have a high level of radiation, and remove all sludge that contains high a level of radiation around the children’s routes to and from school.
⑨ Supply a film badge dosimeter for every child under the age of 15, as recommended by the National Cancer Center. Children are still very defenceless. We need to prevent them from getting seriously ill in the future due to a lack of knowledge or awareness about radiation. We would really like the government to supply those badges to enable us to be calmly aware of the current situation and to feel like we are protecting ourselves.
⑩ Save children’s lives by closing schools and evacuating pupils if they fail to be decontaminated and their radiation level remains above 0.6 microsievert-per-hour.
As mothers of children living in Iwaki City. we feel very sad about the environmental pollution caused by this accident.
The nuclear power plant accident has dramatically changed our parenting environment, which used to be one of clean air, earth and sea. It is a very hard ordeal for us to bring up our children in such an environment where you can not even take a deep breath. We are seriously concerned about our children’s health growing up in this environment which we expect to stay the same for a long time. We face our children’s future faithfully in both psychological and physical ways and want to make efforts to move things in as positive a direction as we can.
We ask the Iwaki City government for its generous support, so that our children can go about their activities with confidence in this environment and under these circumstances, even when their parents aren’t around.
May 13th, 2011
Iwaki Action Mum’s Association
(Translation: Naoko Harada, Jeremy Harley)