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Demystifying the Official Discourse on Childhood Thyroid Cancer in Fukushima

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Piers Williamson
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On 9 October 2011, Fukushima Medical University (FMU) started a two-stage programme of thyroid cancer tests for 368,000 residents in Fukushima Prefecture who were aged 18 or under on 11 March 2011. The first stage was the ‘Preliminary Baseline Survey’ and began on residents in ‘high exposure areas’ and eventually covered all municipalities. The original plan had been to commence three years after the incident, but the testing was brought forward due to parental concerns. In April 2014, FMU started the second stage ‘Full Scale Survey’ of 380,000 residents, now including those who were in utero on 11 March 2011. Participants are to be tested once every two years until they are 20 years old, and then every 5 years for the rest of their lives. The programme uses advanced ultrasound equipment and is unprecedented in scale. It is part of a wider Health Management Survey aimed at estimating the exposure levels and assessing the health status of all Fukushima residents, approximately 2 million people. The first case of thyroid cancer was reported on 12 September 2012 after 80,000 children had been tested. Since then, the numbers have risen steadily. As of writing, 56 have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, 1 with a benign tumour, and a further 47 are suspected of having the cancer. This brings the probable total to 103 out of 296,026 eligible residents examined. Thus far, nearly all initially ‘suspected’ cancers have later been confirmed as malignant.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 12 , Issue 49 , December 2014 , e2
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
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Copyright © The Authors 2014

References

Notes

1 Asahi Shimbun (10/10/2011).

2 Asahi Shimbun (12/9/2012); Yomiuri Shimbun (12/9/2012); Mainichi Shimbun (12/9/2012).

3 The Third International Expert Symposium in Fukushima: Beyond Radiation and Health Risk ~Toward Resilience and Recovery; Thyroid cancer diagnosed in 104 young people in Fukushima

4 Asahi Shimbun (14/2/2013).

5 For a recording of some of these comments with English subtitles see: this video. Also see: Dr. Shunichi Yamashita, Radiation Advisor to Fukushima: “Fukusima Will Be World-Famous! It's Just Great!”

6 Asahi Shimbun (7/11/2013); Asahi Shimbun (8/11/2013). For an English translation and discussion, see here.

7 For example, see: Fukushima residents dissatisfied with children's thyroid cancer screenings and Fukushima disaster panel so far reports three young people have thyroid cancer

8 For an example from Suzuki, see: Asahi Shimbun (6/6/2013). For an example from Yamashita, see here.

9 For an example from Suzuki, see: Asahi Shimbun (6/6/2013). For an example from Yamashita, see: Yomiuri Shimbun (9/3/2013).

10 Asahi Shimbun (10/10/2011).

11 Regarding the third and fourth points, for an example from Suzuki, see: Yomiuri Shimbun (8/7/2012). For an example from Yamashita, see: Yomiuri Shimbun (18/12/2011).

12 For an example from Suzuki, see: Yomiuri Shimbun (10/10/2011). For an example from Yamashita, see: Mainichi Shimbun (12/10/2011).

13 Mainichi Shimbun (Osaka 7/6/2013).

14 Hodo Station, TV Asahi (19/5/2014)

15 日本ABC協会「新聞発行社レポート 半 期」2013年7月～12月平均 ※朝刊セット版部数 は、日本ABC協会「新聞発行社レポート 半期」（2013年7月～12月平均）と社内資料から算出 (last accessed 21 July 2014)

16 New York Times About Page (last accessed 21 July 2014)

17 Yomiuri Shimbun (Nishibu 28/11/2012); 9th Takashi Nagai Memorial Nagasaki Peace Award Profile of the Recipient

18 V. Beral and G. Reeves (1992) ‘Childhood thyroid cancer in Belarus’, Nature, 359; I. Shigematsu and J.W. Thiessen (1992) ‘Childhood thyroid cancer in Belarus’, Nature, 359; E. Ron, J. Lubin and A.B. Schneider (1992) ‘Thyroid cancer incidence’, Nature, 360.

19 Mainichi Shimbun (20/4/1991)

20 The Herald Sun (21/4/1992)

21 The New York Times (3/9/1992)

22 The Independent (3/9/1992)

23 The nuclear industry should fund an international foundation to learn from Chernobyl - PMC

24 Minimum Latency & Types or Categories of Cancer

25 Thanks to Norma Field for that observation.

26 Critical Analysis of the UNSCEAR Report “Levels and effects of radiation exposu - re due to the nuclear accident after the 2011 Great East-Japan Earthquake and tsunami”

27 International Team Studied Children and Teens Exposed After Chernobyl

28 National Academy of Sciences (2006), Health Risks From Exposure to Low Level Radiation, BEIR VII Phase 2, (p.7).

29 Steven Starr (2014) ‘The Contamination of Japan with Radioactive Cesium’, in Caldicott, H. (ed) Crisis Without End: The Medical And Ecological Consequences Of The Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe, The New Press: New York.

30 Hagen, S., and Voigt, V. (2011) ‘The human sex odds at birth after the atmospheric bomb tests, after Chernobyl, and in the vicinity of nuclear facilities’, Environmental Science and Pollution Research 18(5):697-707.

31 OurPlanet TV

32 リンパ節転移が多数～福島県の甲状腺がん; 福 島県の甲状腺検査のやり方を見直してほしい、と私が発言した理由

33 甲状腺がんの子供「原発影響考えにくい」 福 島の検査で学会; Details of Fukushima Thyroid Cancer Cases Revealed at the Japan Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting

34 Asahi Shimbun (13/3/2012)

35 Mainichi Shimbun (12/10/2011)

36 For a transcript, see: Environment Ministry's Eighth Expert Meeting On Health Support After The Fukushima Accident For video, see: Our Planet TV. For Tsuda's materials see: here.

37 Akzente Unscear 2014 (p.13)

38 Akzente Unscear 2014 (p.15)

39 Keith Baverstock: “2013 UNSCEAR Report on Fukushima: A Critical Appraisal”

40 Sander Greenland (2012) ‘Underestimating effects: Why causation probabilities need to be replaced in regulation, policy, and the law’, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 68:76.

41 Thyroid Ultrasound Findings in Children from Three Japanese Prefectures: Aomori, Yamanashi and Nagasaki

42 Akzente Unscear 2014 (p.17)

43 Akzente Unscear 2014 (p.17)

44 Yomiuri Shimbun (15/4/2012).

45 Mainichi Shimbun (13/8/2013)

46 Mainichi Shimbun (23/2/2013)

47 【緊急特集】最新の福島県小児甲状腺がん患者 数×山下俊一の原罪

48 チェルノブイリ原発事故後の健康問題

49 Eiichiro Ochiai, (2014) Hiroshima to Fukushima: Biohazards of Radiation, Springer, Heidelberg: 164.

50 Koujyosen Tsushin Report

51 Hiroaki Koide (2014) ‘Living in a Contaminated World’, in Caldicott, H. (ed) Crisis Without End: The Medical And Ecological Consequences Of The Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe, The New Press: New York.

52 Kosaku Yamada and Etsuji Watanabe (2014) ‘The amount of radioactive material released from Fukushima accident was more than twice of that from Chernobyl accident‘

53 Pavel P. Povinec, Katsumi Hirose, Michio Aoyama, (2013) Fukushima Accident -Radioactivity Impact on the Environment, Elsevier.

54 Thanks to Eiichiro Ochiai for this information.

55 Ian Fairlie (2014) ‘The Initial Health Effects at Fukushima’, in Caldicott, H. (ed) Crisis Without End: The Medical And Ecological Consequences Of The Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe, The New Press: New York.

56 The Low Level Radiation Campaign

57 Hisako Sakiyama (2014) ‘The Findings of the Diet Independent Investigation Committee’, in Caldicott, H. (ed) Crisis Without End: The Medical And Ecological Consequences Of The Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe, The New Press: New York.

58 For translation and analysis see Yuri Hiranuma's blog.

59 「 福島第 一 原子力発電所及び福島第 二 原 子力発電所周辺の緊 急時モニタリング調査結果 について（３月11日 ～ 15日実施分） 」の 一 部訂正について

60 Asahi Shimbun (9/3/2012)

61 Asahi Shimbun (9/3/2012)

62 Asahi Shimbun (9/3/2012); Asahi Shimbun (18/8/2011).

63 Thanks to Eiichiro Ochiai for the conversion.

64 Asahi Shimbun (8/12/2011)

65 Asahi Shimbun (26,12,2012); Asahi Shimbun (19/7/2013); Yomiuri Shimbun (16/3/2011)

66 Asahi Shimbun (1/12/2012)

67 Foreign Correspondents Club

68 Thyroid Examination - Fukushima Mimamori

69 Dr. Shunichi Yamashita: I thought, “Oops…” After Seeing the SPEEDI Simulation Map on March 23, 2011

70 Asahi Shimbun (21/3/2011)

71 Asahi Shimbun (24/3/2011)

72 Dr. Shunichi Yamashita: I thought, “Oops…” After Seeing the SPEEDI Simulation Map on March 23, 2011

73 Ibid.

74 See pages 46-7, Preliminary dose estimation

75 Asahi Shimbun (12/3/2011)

76 Akzente Unscear 2014 (p.13)

77 Akzente Unscear 2014 (p.16)

78 Scientist Lambastes Lawmakers Becomes youTube Star

79 Akzente Unscear 2014 (p.16-17)

80 Kagaku Baverstock 2014 (p.3-5)

81 Keith Baverstock: “2013 UNSCEAR Report on Fukushima: A Critical Appraisal”

82 Summary report on congenital birth defects study in Iraq

83 Congenital birth defect study. For a detailed account see: ‘Damning Evidence’ Becomes ‘No Clear Evidence’: Much-Delayed Report On Congenital Birth Defects In Iraq

84 WHO's Iraq Birth Defect Study Omits Causation

85 WHO Refuses to Publish Report on Cancers and Birth Defects in Iraq Caused by Depleted Uranium Ammunition

86 WHO's Iraq Birth Defect Study Omits Causation

87 Global report on Fukushima nuclear accident details health risks

88 The gist is that critics argue that ICRP models are inappropriate for exposure to fallout because they do not include internal exposure and are based on the flawed atomic bomb studies.

89 Hisako Sakiyama (2014) ‘The Findings of the Diet Independent Investigation Committee’, in Caldicott, H. (ed) Crisis Without End: The Medical And Ecological Consequences Of The Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe, The New Press: New York.

90 Mainichi Shimbun (3/10/2012)

91 Mainichi Shimbun (9/2/2013)

92 OurPlanet TV

93 Fukushima Radiation and Health; Ministry of the Environment Report

94 Mainichi Shimbun (12/5/2014).

95 Hisako Sakiyama (2014) ‘The Findings of the Diet Independent Investigation Committee’, in Caldicott, H. (ed) Crisis Without End: The Medical And Ecological Consequences Of The Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe, The New Press: New York.

96 TV Asahi, Hodo Station, (25/8/2014)

97 Yoshioka, Hitoshi (2011) Genshiryoku no shakaishi – sono nihonteki tenkai, Asahi Shimbun Suppan, Tokyo: 373-4.

98 For accounts of suicide, abuse, deaths in isolation, and domestic violence see, Asahi Shimbun 01/03/2012; Asahi Shimbun 11/09/2013; Asahi Shimbun 14/03/2014. For an account of obesity amongst children, see Keizai Shimbun 13/12/2013.

99 See Ochiai (2014) or Caldicott (2014) for detailed accounts.

100 There is some tentative data on possible negative changes in health trends following the disaster, see Ochiai (2014: 173-80).