70-75 US Sailors on USS Ronald Reagan Crew File Suit for Fukushima Radiation Illnesses

Editor's Note: On behalf of US sailors, attorney Charles Bonner is filing a class action lawsuit against TEPCO, the owner of the Fukushima nuclear energy plant that erupted in 2011 when the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. The following radio interview of Bonner, photos and excerpts are taken from Nuclear Hotseat and Energy News (ENE)

- Axis of Logic

Nuclear Hotseat #129: US Sailors Vs. TEPCO Attorney Charles Bonner

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Interview: Attorney Charles Bonner, one of the team representing sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan in their lawsuit against TEPCO for the health damages they sustained from Fukushima radiation during Operation Tomadachi, the humanitarian aid mission to Japan immediately after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

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Excerpts from Interview by ENE - Energy News

Another 20 Navy Sailors: USS Ronald Reagan crew with thyroid cancers, leukemia, brain tumors, bleeding, blindness after Fukushima disaster — Young kids developing problems — Gov’t and Tepco involved in major conspiracy (AUDIO)

At 27:00
Charles Bonner, attorney representing sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan: They’re not only going to the rescue by jumping into the water and rescuing people out of the water, but they were drinking desalinated sea water, bathing in it, until finally the captain of the USS Ronald Reagan alarmed people that they were encountering high levels of radiation. As a result of this exposure, the 51 sailors that we represent right now have come down with a host of medical problems, including cancers and leukemias, all kinds of gynecological problems [...] people who are going blind, pilots who had perfect eyesight but now have tumors on the brain. These service men and women are young people 21, 22, 23 years old and no one in their family had ever (inaudible) any of these kinds of illnesses before.

At 33:00
Bonner: These sailors had none of these kind of medical problems, now they have back pains, memory loss, severe anxiety. They have testicular cancer, they have thyroid cancers, they have leukemias, they have a host of problems, rectal and gynecological bleeding, a host of problems that they did not have before [...] And it’s only been 3 years since they went in. [...] The Japanese government is in a major conspiracy with Tepco to hide and conceal the true facts.

At 34:30
Bonner: We’ll be adding approximately 20 sailors, bringing the total number in the lawsuit to 70 to 75.

At 47:30
Bonner: 21 and 22 year-olds who are just beginning to start their lives, start their families, and many have little children and now they’re sick. They are going constantly to the doctors, their children are sick — we even have small children as some of our plaintiffs, because they too have developed problems.

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