Sailors Suing Japan for $1 Billion Dollars Due to Fukushima Radiation

[dufus]

A United States appeals court has ruled that hundreds of American Navy personnel who were affected by radiation exposure during the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant can now pursue a class action suit against the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power company in the United States instead of Japan.

The incident occurred in 2011 after the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and other Navy ships that were dispatched to assist in recovery efforts after an earthquake rocked the country were then forced to reposition due to a low-level radiation plume that emanated from the Fukushima nuclear plant 100 miles away.

“The carrier is one of seven US Navy ships that were quickly moved to the eastern coast of Japan to assist with relief operations after Friday’s earthquake and tsunami “ABC News reported back in 2011 adding, “The ship’s crew was exposed to a very low level of radiation.”

Now, six years later it seems as if that radiation exposure has caught up with many of the sailors and they are seeking compensation from those responsible for the nuclear plant’s radiation leak. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on June 23 that the sailors affected can now pursue their claim, The Daily Caller reported.

According to the  U.K. Telegraph, William Zeller was aboard the USS Ronald Reagan in 2011 and assisted with the recovery efforts. He told the newspaper that things have gotten worse since that mission.

“Right now, I know I have problems but I’m afraid of actually finding out how bad they really are,” he said.

Zeller, a former martial arts instructor, has the same complaint as the other plaintiffs in the case. Prior to that 2011 mission, they were healthy and active. Now they suffer from ailments believed to have been caused by the exposure to the radioactive atmosphere.

“I literally just go to work and go home now,” Zelller said. “I don’t have the energy or pain threshold to deal with anything else”.

So far, 318 sailors have joined the class action lawsuit that is seeking a $1 billion dollar settlement for the various ailments they claim were caused by their exposure.

“The California-based law firm representing the plaintiffs say they have been affected by a range of complaints, ranging from leukaemia to ulcers, brain cancer, brain tumours, testicular cancer, thyroid illnesses and stomach complaints,” The Telegraph reported.

The suit alleges that TEPCO is financially responsible for the sailors’ continued medical care because the company “failed to accurately inform the Japanese government of the scale of the problem.”

In addition, the suit says that the Japanese government in turn did not let the U.S. know that the radiation could pose a threat to those dispatched to assist in “Operation Tomodachi.”

This is huge news that the sailors will be able to pursue their claim on U.S. soil, and must be a welcome relief for the men and women who were affected while on board the USS Ronald Reagan.

http://conservativetribune.com/us-military-sets-sites-on-japan/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tomodachi

 

[rasbridge]

Good luck with your billion dollar lawsuit.