US Sailors sue Japanese electric company over radiation exposure

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**Ouze**

source

US sailors sue Japan's TEPCO for post-quake radiation exposure
By Kari Huus, NBC News

A group of U.S. Navy personnel involved in the humanitarian effort after Japan's March 2011 earthquake and tsunami have filed a lawsuit against the Tokyo Electric Power Co. for more than $200 million in compensation, punitive damages and future medical costs for exposure to radiation that leaked from the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant at the time.

The plaintiffs include eight troops serving on the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier — one of whom was pregnant at the time of the alleged exposure — and her daughter.

They charge that the utility, known as TEPCO, "knowingly and negligently caused, permitted and allowed misleading information concerning the true condition of the (plant) to be disseminated to the public, including the U.S. Navy Department," according to the complaint filed on Dec. 21 in a U.S. federal court in San Diego.

The plaintiffs are suffering a variety of symptoms that attorney Paul Garner says were caused by the exposure, including rectal bleeding, thyroid problems and persistent migraine headaches, and all face an increased chance of developing cancer and requiring expensive medical procedures.

The U.S. carrier was positioned just offshore from the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, which and suffered a meltdown which triggered the release of high levels of radiation into the air and water.

"The carrier was less than two football fields away from the Fukushima Daiichi when it released a cloud of radiation," said Garner, speaking to NBC News on Thursday.
He said the crew was unknowingly exposed to high levels of radiation in numerous ways, including when they cleared the carrier's decks of snow that was contaminated, and washed down the helicopters with sea water that was contaminated.

The complaint said that by relying on misrepresentations about the situation by TEPCO, the U.S. Navy was "lulled into a false sense of security," believing it was "safe to operate with the waters adjacent to the FNPP, without doing research and testing that would have revealed the problems."

It goes on to charge that through its conduct, TEPCO "rendered the Plaintiffs infirm and poisoned their bodies. The Plaintiffs must now endure a lifetime of radiation poisoning and suffering which could have and should have been avoided."

The suit is seeking $10 million in damages for each plaintiff, plus $30 million in punitive damages and a judgment requiring TEPCO to create $100 million fund to pay for their medical costs, including monitoring and treatments.

TEPCO could not immediately be reached for comment by NBC News.

A TEPCO spokesman reached by The Japan Times said the company had not yet received the complaint. "We will consider a response after examining the claim," said Yusuke Kunikage, according to the Times.

Since the disaster, TEPCO has operated a fund to compensate victims in Japan.
Garner said that he didn't believe his clients would get justice through the Japanese system, which is why the suit was filed in a U.S. court. The complaint was served to

TEPCO's office in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, he said. "We need the U.S. justice system to make this right," Garner said.

**Khornholio**

Good luck on getting any compensation from the Japanese government.

**SkyD**

Can't see any reason why they should be, they weren't WWII soldiers who didn't know how dangerous radiation was, they worked in an area within full knowledge of the damage to the reactor.
Given the Reagan is Nuclear Powered then if they could not detect radiation problems then a question should be asked as to why a Nuclear Powered ship is operating without the necessary safety testing requirements.

Chernobyl was covered up and discovered because of the radiation travelling to Sweden that was picked up when workers tried to enter the Forsmark Nuclear Power Plant and radioactive particles were found on their clothing.

The Japanese were front up with the problems as they developed. So I see no reason why special compensation should be given, those exposed to the risk would have been working well within knowledge of said risk and chose to work in that situation.

**Kilkrazy**

Should an aircraft carrier have radiation alarms for nuclear war conditions?

**d-usa**

Kilkrazy wrote:
Should an aircraft carrier have radiation alarms for nuclear war conditions?

Should a nuclear aircraft carrier have radiation alarms for nuclear war conditions as well as for monitoring the integrity of the nuclear reactor present on the ship?

**AustonT**

Kilkrazy wrote:Should an aircraft carrier have radiation alarms for nuclear war conditions?

I can't repost text from this but there's a paragraph that starts ,"detectors aboard USS Ronald Reagan,"
http://abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=13129409
It also mentions that some crew members were tested and recieved higher than normal but less than concerning rad doses.

SkyD wrote:

The Japanese were front up with the problems as they developed.

ROFLMFAO.

**WarOne**

The soldiers are suing in a US court; either way it will be difficult for them to get what they are asking for.

I'm pretty sure there are some Japanese who read this story find irony that Americans are suing Japanese for nuclear radiation fallout...

**LordofHats**

WarOne wrote:

I'm pretty sure there are some Japanese who read this story find irony that Americans are suing Japanese for nuclear radiation fallout...

Hey. I'm American and I find it deliciously ironic

**Seaward**

d-usa wrote:
Should a nuclear aircraft carrier have radiation alarms for nuclear war conditions as well as for monitoring the integrity of the nuclear reactor present on the ship?

How do those help the corpsmen, logistics guys, and yeoman ashore two hundred miles away helping out on the ground, exactly?

**Mattman154**

WarOne wrote:
I'm pretty sure there are some Japanese who read this story find irony that Americans are suing Japanese for nuclear radiation fallout...

It's bad how hard I laughed at this

**Kilkrazy**

Seaward wrote:
d-usa wrote:
Should a nuclear aircraft carrier have radiation alarms for nuclear war conditions as well as for monitoring the integrity of the nuclear reactor present on the ship?

How do those help the corpsmen, logistics guys, and yeoman ashore two hundred miles away helping out on the ground, exactly?

The people who are making the legal complaint were on the carrier, according to the report.

**dogma**

Ouze wrote:

The complaint said that by relying on misrepresentations about the situation by TEPCO, the U.S. Navy was "lulled into a false sense of security," believing it was "safe to operate with the waters adjacent to the FNPP, without doing research and testing that would have revealed the problems."

I'm more concerned about why the Navy chose to rely on TEPCO's reports.

**Seaward**

Kilkrazy wrote:
The people who are making the legal complaint were on the carrier, according to the report.

So it did. Interesting.

They might have a case if TEPCO told them, "No, there won't be any more clouds of radiation released, we're sure of it." If they were really within two football fields of the plant, there's not a lot you can do to avoid getting hit with that when it happens.

Moral of the story: don't help anyone, ever.

**daedalus**

WarOne wrote:

I'm pretty sure there are some Japanese who read this story find irony that Americans are suing Japanese for nuclear radiation fallout...

My day, you've made it!

**Alfndrate**

Seaward wrote:
Kilkrazy wrote:
The people who are making the legal complaint were on the carrier, according to the report.

So it did. Interesting.

They might have a case if TEPCO told them, "No, there won't be any more clouds of radiation released, we're sure of it." If they were really within two football fields of the plant, there's not a lot you can do to avoid getting hit with that when it happens.

Moral of the story: don't help anyone, ever.

That last sentence is a part of a local radio show's mission statement.

**azazel the cat**

SkyD wrote:The Japanese were front up with the problems as they developed. So I see no reason why special compensation should be given, those exposed to the risk would have been working well within knowledge of said risk and chose to work in that situation.

Likely because the Japanese were not up front with the problems as they developed, and in fact likely underreported the radiation levels.

**KalashnikovMarine**

SkyD wrote:

The Japanese were front up with the problems as they developed. So I see no reason why special compensation should be given, those exposed to the risk would have been working well within knowledge of said risk and chose to work in that situation.

Because you know it's not like military personnel have to follow orders or anything.

**dogma**

KalashnikovMarine wrote:

Because you know it's not like military personnel have to follow orders or anything.

Still, its a bit odd that active duty soldiers are filing suit against a foreign corporation for something happened during a military operation. I'm not certain that's ever happened before.

**Ouze**

dogma wrote:
Ouze wrote:

The complaint said that by relying on misrepresentations about the situation by TEPCO, the U.S. Navy was "lulled into a false sense of security," believing it was "safe to operate with the waters adjacent to the FNPP, without doing research and testing that would have revealed the problems."

I'm more concerned about why the Navy chose to rely on TEPCO's reports.

That was the really interesting question and the one that wasn't addressed.

**Seaward**

Ouze wrote:
That was the really interesting question and the one that wasn't addressed.

I can't speak for the Navy, but my guess would be it's due to the fact that Japanese nuclear engineers usually know what they're doing.

**Kilkrazy**

Not so sure about that, personally...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokaimura_nuclear_accident

**Seaward**

Kilkrazy wrote:
Not so sure about that, personally...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokaimura_nuclear_accident

We've had a couple ourselves, and we still tend to think we know what we're doing. Japan's a first-world nation with a lot of nuclear power experience, an ally, a trade partner, etc. etc. If they give us info, it's not unreasonable to expect it to be correct.

**Grey Templar**

The problems that have happened in the US have been pretty minor as far as Nuclear accidents go and our safety systems are top of the line. This really was a freak accident.

**Ouze**

Seaward wrote:
Ouze wrote:
That was the really interesting question and the one that wasn't addressed.

I can't speak for the Navy, but my guess would be it's due to the fact that Japanese nuclear engineers usually know what they're doing.

What happened to "trust, but verify"? I'd have to think the captain of the vessel would feel the safety of his crew was his personal responsibility; not one to be delegated to some foreign corporation - especially when monitoring it is a situation they are equipped for themselves.

I dunno, maybe there's more that hasn't come to light yet.

**Exalbaru**

WarOne wrote:
The soldiers are suing in a US court; either way it will be difficult for them to get what they are asking for.

I'm pretty sure there are some Japanese who read this story find irony that Americans are suing Japanese for nuclear radiation fallout...

Implying the atom bombs were nulcear which they were in fact not.

I'm an HM2 (navy corpsman petty officer second class) attached to a squadron and was there for Operation Tomadachi. Our patrol planes ran SAR ops from Misawa as well as Okinawa but I helped coordinate things on the ground as well. We monitored each and every one of our sailors who got withing 100 nautical miles of the supposed radiation zone and none got even close to the amount of a chest xray. Our maintainers were forced to wear gloves when touching the birds during all maintinence evolutions for 4 months. And of course you have people coming up saying they want iodine pills and theyre nauscious and have radiation poisoning, or that they want exposure documented in their records. I told them to take a hike and we briefed them on how alpha and beta radiation particles work and they were not at risk. Every precaution was taken with our guys and I'm sure the HMs on the Reagan were working their asses off doing the same.

I find it a disgrace that these people suffered a tragedy like that and now Americans are trying to get 200 million. (pocket change to alot of companies but not when they have to rebuild a whole facility) The same people who when red cross came in with supplies made a single file line and waited their turn for aide.

**djones520**

Exalbaru wrote:
WarOne wrote:
The soldiers are suing in a US court; either way it will be difficult for them to get what they are asking for.

I'm pretty sure there are some Japanese who read this story find irony that Americans are suing Japanese for nuclear radiation fallout...

Implying the atom bombs were nulcear which they were in fact not.

I'm an HM2 (navy corpsman petty officer second class) attached to a squadron and was there for Operation Tomadachi. Our patrol planes ran SAR ops from Misawa as well as Okinawa but I helped coordinate things on the ground as well. We monitored each and every one of our sailors who got withing 100 nautical miles of the supposed radiation zone and none got even close to the amount of a chest xray. Our maintainers were forced to wear gloves when touching the birds during all maintinence evolutions for 4 months. And of course you have people coming up saying they want iodine pills and theyre nauscious and have radiation poisoning, or that they want exposure documented in their records. I told them to take a hike and we briefed them on how alpha and beta radiation particles work and they were not at risk. Every precaution was taken with our guys and I'm sure the HMs on the Reagan were working their asses off doing the same.

I find it a disgrace that these people suffered a tragedy like that and now Americans are trying to get 200 million. (pocket change to alot of companies but not when they have to rebuild a whole facility) The same people who when red cross came in with supplies made a single file line and waited their turn for aide.

Yeah, i'm having a hard time understanding what grounds these Sailors have to stand on. As I understood it we were taking every precaution to ensure that our folks were kept to as minimal exposure as possible. I know my unit certainly was.

**Kilkrazy**

On behalf of my wife I thank you people for your work during Operation Tomodachi.

I am also glad for your setting straight the nuclear protection of the US people involved.

**AlmightyWalrus**

Exalbaru wrote:
WarOne wrote:
The soldiers are suing in a US court; either way it will be difficult for them to get what they are asking for.

I'm pretty sure there are some Japanese who read this story find irony that Americans are suing Japanese for nuclear radiation fallout...

Implying the atom bombs were nulcear which they were in fact not.

...what?

No, really, what?

**djones520**

AlmightyWalrus wrote:
Exalbaru wrote:
WarOne wrote:
The soldiers are suing in a US court; either way it will be difficult for them to get what they are asking for.

I'm pretty sure there are some Japanese who read this story find irony that Americans are suing Japanese for nuclear radiation fallout...

Implying the atom bombs were nulcear which they were in fact not.

...what?

No, really, what?

He's probably referring to the fact that there was no fallout, since the bombs were air burst. The "fallout", what little there was due to few solid particles being in the air, rose into the stratosphere. There was radiation that affected the citizens, but it was not due to coming into contact with irradiated materials. It was due to the nuetron and gamma radiation burst that occured during the explosion.

**Squigsquasher**

Oh dear.

Not sure how wise it is for a pregnant woman to be in a potentially irradiated disaster zone...

Also, considering that this is the US, a country that refused to sign a bill making the use of nuclear weapons a war crime just so they could avoid war crimes trials...