Immediately
following the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, a
relief effort by the United States Navy provided humanitarian aid to those
affected. The operation called “Operation Tomodachi” evolved 70,000 Department
of Defense-affiliated personnel. Three
years later, some U.S. Navy personnel claim that they are experiencing
mysterious symptoms, including hemorrhaging and cancer. In some cases, their
doctors cannot provide diagnoses and therefore cannot determine if the illnesses
are radiation-related. The U.S. government denied that radiation has caused
these illnesses.
Convinced
their illnesses were caused by radiation exposure, 71 of these sailors filed a
lawsuit against the Tokyo Electric Power Company ( Tepco) which operates the Fukushima power plant.
Janis Sammartino, a federal judge in San Diego, dismissed the case because lack
of authority to conclude whether the government of Japan collaborated with the
utility to commit fraud against the U.S. However Charles Bonner the attorney
for the 51 U.S. sailors who served aboard the USS Ronald Reagan during disaster
relief operations intends to refill the lawsuit. The sailors asked for the
creation of a one billion dollar fund to pay for their medical exams,
monitoring and treatments, as well as reimbursement of lost wages and punitive
damages, among other relief. According to the lawyer, Tepco and Japanese
government officials claimed there was no danger of radiation to the USS Reagan
or other ships in the fleet during the mission. However, many of the sailors
claimed that they were exposed to environmental radiation levels that far exceeded
the permissible ones.
Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan wash down the
flight deck to remove potential radiation
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