79 U.S. sailors sue TEPCO over radiation during Operation Tomodachi

Cheap attempt at money grabbing. If they are so worried now, let them sue the Pentagon who ordered them there. Talk about creating bad feeling.

“It’s wholly implausible,” the company says in its response, “that military commanders in charge of thousands of personnel and armed with some of the world’s most sophisticated equipment, relied instead only on the press releases and public statements of a foreign electric utility company.”

In other words: The US military, with all its sophisticated technology, should have known we were lying through our teeth. Our press releases, full of willfully misleading information about radiation levels was obviously intended for the droves of our Japanese citizenry who are much easier to fool.

I don't think this is going to go through either, the company's spokesperson is right, the US Navy wouldn't rely solely on a press release when determining the safety of the environment they're sending men and women into.

Operation Not-Really Tomodachi?

Shouldn't they be suing the military for not providing safety equipment? I mean TEPCO didn't order them there, and the company has a point -- there was no way the US military was working off press releases from a Japanese electric company.

Surely the captain of the vessel, the officer in charge of the operation, were prepared to do all they could to safeguard the lives of his servicemen.

If not...well, that's just a whole 'nother level of incompetence.

Very poor representation of the US military and the US, and a great example of pure greed.

It's not just Americans. This article fails to mention the couple thousand japanese that have joined them in a class action suit. (Internet search for class action suit TEPCO)

Was the ship not fitted with any radiation detectors whatsoever? Considering the known situation after the tsunami, was no one checking?

The preferred strategy of the US Defense Department and the Abe government will be: first, don’t acknowledge there’s a problem, followed by the usual stonewalling, modified hangout, and suppression of negative information.

'Operation sue your Tomodachi'?

Some Tomodachi!

They are suing the wrong target.

It was their commanders who ordered them to Fukushima for this PR mission.

Try suing them.

but it would be good to see tepco brought to justice. how many more directly affected people have been paid off at fair value?

How were they able to prove that the increase in cancer and the birth defects were caused by their work done in Sendai? Has the number of cancer cases and birth defects also risen in Sendai? We haven't heard anything detailing this(although that information might be quashed). I'm afraid, this is the work of some unscrupulous lawyers looking to make a quick buck, thinking they had an easy mark.

Children are born with birth defects all the time, in areas where there are no issues with radiation. Be interesting to see how they try to prove it was linked to their work after the tsunami.

Everyone, I think they have a pretty good case against both TEPCO and the U.S. military. Surely the average sailor put stock in TEPCO's lie even if the high command did not.

I find it rather foolish to think that surely, the U.S. military is so all mighty competent and caring that there is no chance they sent sailors up there without top of the line radiation detection equipment monitoring radiation all the time, or that even if they did, there is no way the readings would not be ignored. They had a mission, and they surely did not have radiation suits for everyone.

it would be good to see tepco brought to justice

Depends what you mean by 'brought to justice'. Any monies they ended up paying out would come out of our pockets, one way or another - either through still higher electricity tariffs, or through taxes if the government bails them out again.

It leaves a sour taste in the mouth when the much-praised Operation Tomodachi - an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the worth of an American presence on Japanese soil, and one that provided real help to a lot of people - is dragged down to the level of ambulance-chasers. As others have mentioned, the ones these servicemen need to seek answers from are their own commanders, not a bunch of clueless civilians.

USS Ronald Ragan is a nuclear powered ship that does 24/7 constant monitoring of radioactive immisions. There is no way the ship would have moved into harms way since it was not at combat status.

there is no way the sailors can sue the US government once they enlist they accept hazard duty. However there is a good chance they can sue TEPCO and if this happens that means every other japanese who was and is exposed can also piggy back on the law suit.

I think they have all right to sue Tepco. Telco was lying to to own citizens about safety of all their plants. They were hiding many facts on polluting ocean till now. Many Japanese people sued Tepco why not Americans. On increase of cancer in Sendai I have to sadly admid that around me, the cancer raised since last 14 years, here in my colleges circles. Maybe is coincidence, and there are family related cases too... But We will never know. I would say sue them all, good luck!

Conbinibento's comment is spot on. This suit is worth the trouble, even only for TEPCO's reaction to it. The implied "you're so stupid as to believe our version of the conditions?" SHOULD make headlines in the papers here!

How were they able to prove that the increase in cancer and the birth defects were caused by their work done in Sendai? Has the number of cancer cases and birth defects also risen in Sendai? We haven't heard anything detailing this(although that information might be quashed). I'm afraid, this is the work of some unscrupulous lawyers looking to make a quick buck, thinking they had an easy mark.

I'm pretty sure they traced it to the cesium-infected seawater that they drank.

“It’s wholly implausible,” the company says in its response, “that military commanders in charge of thousands of personnel and armed with some of the world’s most sophisticated equipment, relied instead only on the press releases and public statements of a foreign electric utility company.”

That is sickening! He is basically saying it is your own fault for listening to the Japanese government.

"Very poor representation of the US military and the US, and a great example of pure greed." A quote from the article: "they were actually being blanketed with radiation that has since led to dozens of cancer cases and a child being born with birth defects"

A billion dollars is nothing for TEPCO. If you ask me its symboilc. TEPCO is still turning a profit. They are paying the lowest biders to fix the problem, and surprise they have had 100 setbacks or more. No one at TEPCO is serving jail time. Why is that? Why is it that they are still raking in the money?

@InakaRob: no one is exonerating TEPCO for their actions....two wrongs doesn't make a right.

grab at money, the people in the plant had huge exposure and so did the fire dept, not some dude flying over for a short time.

on top of that you sign up for that kind of job, what do you think nuclear biological and chemical warfare is.......you going to sue a enemy for that.

this is outrageous, and a mocks those that truly suffered,

this is the quality of American army is today.

@ Juggernaut

Sorry, but this suit has absolutely zero change of success. It is merely vexatious litigation being brought by lawyers who smell money, and it will be thrown out. Again.

The basis under which the suit is made is for a series of illnesses - most that dont have any correlation to receiving any dose of radiation.

The level of disinformation surrounding the case is astounding. You see "experts" on RT news stating the Carrier was parked 1 mile offshore (it was 100 miles), stating that they received high doses, when they received very low doses. Remember this aircraft carrier is nuclear powered, designed to be taken into wars, so the radiation detection equipment is the best there is. None of it tripped. The actual doses of radiation received were calculated to be the equivalent of 2 months worth of normal background radiation.

There is no question that this suit is totally without merit. For a very detailed explanation of the effects, look on youtube for "thunderf00t", he's a Cornell University researcher who goes into great detail over this and shows it is essentially impossible to link the symptoms seen to Fukushima.

The US general assessing the situation at Daiichi said based on reports there seems to be multiple reactor meltdowns.. To which J Govt made the US general retract his statement as lies... Back then the US general had to reassess the situation based on J Govt BS....

So they join the military get ordered into a danger zone and then seek damages, these guys are just fleas, I hope they become the laughing stock of the US Military,

It may be more serious than you think....

http://www.internationalpolicydigest.org/2014/02/06/contamination-uss-ronald-reagan-fukushima-response-underreported/

Problem is win or lose both the Japanese and American people suffer. Money cannot replace the lost life and happiness. If they "win" the attorneys will get the lions share of the money and Tepco won't pay, it will be the Japanese people paying in higher bills. If you want to truly nail Tepco confiscate the property of the executives and give that to any person that was harmed whether Japanese, American or otherwise. But it won't happen and never will. Us ants will continue to work and the execs will continue to try to figure out which mansion to live in and which yacht to get there. :(

TEPCO finally getting a taste of full-blown litigation. Any other country and they'd be sued into oblivion...

What kind of Tomodachi is this? We know TEPCO is a liar and they have faulty dosimeter but with US military sophisticated equipments they should've known better. Also they were acting under the direct order of US govt I guess?

I knew americans were sue crazy, but at this point?

J Govt Lied back then and as TEPCO is still Lying. They know they denied the reports made with some of the world’s most sophisticated equipment. Yes, J Govt and TEPCO denied the reports of multiple reactor meltdowns from the initial assessment and then made the world wait for months for them to finally admit to the US initial findings.......

yeah this one is tricky, I think the sailors have a case but probably not $1billion. yes we know that America is the litigation capital of the world, what Japan needs is a court system that will punish companies that provide false information/products that put the public risk. until large fines and long jail terms are handed out in this country nothing will change. the J public will continue to be the slaves of J inc.

The Owners of Corporations have assurance and or J Govt pays since they Own over 50% of TEPCO......

U.S. Seventh Fleet Public Affairs issues this press release on March 14, 2011:

The U.S. 7th Fleet has temporarily repositioned its ships and aircraft away from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant after detecting low level contamination in the air and on its aircraft operating in the area. The source of this airborne radioactivity is a radioactive plume released from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant. For perspective, the maximum potential radiation dose received by any ship’s force personnel aboard the ship when it passed through the area was less than the radiation exposure received from about one month of exposure to natural background radiation from sources such as rocks, soil, and the sun.

The US Navy have also operate clear risk management, and radiation health procedures:

Radiation Health Protection Manual

http://www.med.navy.mil/directives/Pub/5055%20(Feb%202011).pdf

I am afraid these Sailors are chasing the wrong ambulance, TEPCO could well be responsible for a wealth of mismanagement and governance issues, but are certainly not legally culpable for health and safety management from risks to injury of health for US Navy personal on active duty during Operation Tomodachi.

These greedy personal injury attorneys will even stoop to chasing US navy personal carrying out a humanitarian mission, a new low, shameful.

ka_chan

Great Link a really informative article...

These sailors are a disgrace.

You join the military with the possibility of worse happening.

Can I sue the Afghanistan government for compensation because I was shot and wounded there?

Stupid.

“It’s wholly implausible,” the company says in its response, “that military commanders in charge of thousands of personnel and armed with some of the world’s most sophisticated equipment, relied instead only on the press releases and public statements of a foreign electric utility company.”

For once, I completely agree with TEPCO.

itsonlyrocknroll You only got half the story ka chan's link takes you back to Atoll and the US assessments about radioactive particulate

http://www.internationalpolicydigest.org/2014/02/06/contamination-uss-ronald-reagan-fukushima-response-underreported/

Despite making up only 6% of the world's population, America is unfortunate enough to have more than half the world's lawyers. No doubt these 79 sailors were were heavily scouted by numerous law firms looking to make a quick buck, while ripping off everyone else in the process. The law firm will collect 40% of any settlement, plus expenses (which may add up to as much as another 40%), leaving whatever is left over to be shared among the 79 plaintiffs. After being taxed on their awards, they will have little left over to spend on any treatment they will require, while the law firm will probably pocket enough money to build a new office building.

An American law firm has already sent lawyers to China to represent the familiy members of those lost on the Malaysian Airlines flight 370. They have already filed suit against the airline and Boeing, even though there are absolutlely no facts known about the filght yet.

Good luck to these 79 fools.

This case will fall apart. TEPCO did not have any radiation figures. There was no power to run any radiation detectors and the first equipent was US equipment installed by the US government (so former US Embassador Roos was able to make his mark). The radiation figures were supplied by the US government.

A friend in need is a friend in — greed?

may be more serious than you think....

Sorry, but who the heck is "International Policy Digest"? Might as well be "Dude with a Blog".

This reflects so badly on the whole Operation Tomodachi. I feel bad for the men and women who actually serve with honor - the vast majority - not these idiots getting their news from conspiracy theory blogs and trying to chase $$$$$.

Did J Govt give the US military SPEEDI's report on events to take place at Daiichi prior to the event??? No..... The US had to assess the situation on the ground. I personally would not send a ship not such a situation...

actually if the levels were too high the alarms would have gone off on the ship and everyone would have been in nbc suits or locked below decks- that did not happen.

and they monitor all the time- not just for a local nuclear accident- so yes this is a frivolous lawsuit - but a lawyer smelled money and these sailors want a piece.

Utrack Hi, an interesting and informative link posted by ka chan, lots to take in, essentially, Roger Witherspoon Japan Focus publications on the US military's response to radioactive contamination during 'Operation Tomodachi'

The question posed in the article is culpability for these unfortunate sailors' health care.

TEPCO responsibility, for want of a better word, well 'feels' like a long shot, or a shot to nothing, a classic 'personal injury' attorney tactical gambit to pursue a 'settlement'.

There are serious questions that need investigation, if for undetermined reasons, US Navy failed to follow or operate their own published risk management, and radiation health procedures that show clear actions that should be adhered in this case, then I would suggest the US Navy is culpable.

TEPCO has been proved on humorous occasions to being less than straight forward and without the risk of understatement resorting to deliberate falsehood.

Your thoughts?

Do you or posters think that there other forces at play here, I am intrigued to know? Either negligence wilful or not?

J Govt has (SPEEDI) A System for Prediction of Environment Emergency Dose Information. It predicted events that took place at Daiichi prior to the accident. Lots of excuses as to why the information was released months later

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_monitoring_in_Japan#SPEEDI_Network

Gotta love the abject disdain for the FIRST one on the scene to help after the horrible events of 3.11...Japanese are the best friends in the world until it comes to being a friend in return. I'm sure the sailors effected are also going through channels of command for recompense as well. Now to sit back and await my 50 "down" votes

TEPCO report faults operating manual; disputes hydrogen explosion.. National Oct. 04, 2011

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/1688532/comments/popular/id/1688532

where is SPEEDI's report??? Oct. 04, 2011

That comment up the top is BS. They "lied" to the world and there own people knowing. The owners or lairs are the people 2 blame, & the fact they even lied to there own people shows the world what kind of people they are to put human and kids life at risk "knowing there was high leaves of radiation". That was 100% something preventable that they did not care about.

A lawsuit filed in federal court in San Diego contends that Tokyo Electric Power Co repeatedly said there was no danger to the crew when they were actually being blanketed with radiation that has since led to dozens of cancer cases and a child being born with birth defects, the Orange County Register newspaper reported Monday. The Japanese company says its “wholly implausible” military commanders would rely on safety information from the utility.

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Is TEPCO within San Diego jurisdiction?????

Where do I sign to join in on the lawsuit? This should also be open to the people who actually lived in Japan at the time.

while this suit is ridiculous and reinforces all the stereotypes about the US legal system, the last comment by TEPCO is a bit surprising - they are saying that the US army/navy should not be depending on TEPCO's press releases and public statements while they expected the Japanese to... Hmm...

In the US military? Feeling the pinch? Then sue someone! Yes, lawyers at Shyster, Flywheel and Shyster will sue anyone, anywhere, anytime on your behalf... including TEPCO of Japan.

This is just greed.

Seriously, this is such a stereotypical circumstance for the the litigious US who teaches people to take no responsibility for their own actions. The sailors can't sue the real idiots who went by a nuclear power plant that was known to be damaged at the time without having radiation detection of their own? Radiation may be invisible, but it is detectable and I think a US Navy AC Carrier has at least one such device. Meanwhile, this is a reminder that the Japanese government needs to take responsibility for its negligence in overseeing the plants. They need to isolate Fukushima and form a separate liability Corporation, so TEPCO can move forward.

Well, guys, this little piece of insanity will become a MAJOR problem if Abe gets his way and Japan joins the TPP!

“that military commanders in charge of thousands of personnel and armed with some of the world’s most sophisticated equipment, relied instead only on the press releases and public statements of a foreign electric utility company.”

Its a gem :))

Why did not the JSDF ships deliver supplies instead of the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Japan has ships to do the same thing....

On a nuclear powered ship with probably nuclear weapons, they are not able to check radiation? Scary level of incompetence.

J Govt had foreknowledge of the accident and did not release that knowledge till after the accident. J Govt knew the direction(s) of the radioactive particulate plume(s) before the accident happened...

With all due respect to Car Talk, this case has the fingerprints of Dewey, Newcomb, and Howe all over it.

The Nuclear Safety Division of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology streams information from a national network of detectors, called the System for Prediction of Environment Emergency Dose Information (SPEEDI). It has been called a "computer-based decision support system" by researchers, and its function is for real-time dose assessment in radiological emergencies. In 1993 it had been developed for domestic local range accidents and was in the process to scale up to a national scale emergency response program linked to local governments.

J Govt knew in which direction the wind blew

Soldiers from an army that use depleted uranium weapons at large scale should just shut up. Their impact has been proven thousand times worse. Or they should sue the US government. But secret defence, NSA, Patriot Act and so on...!

Did the Soldiers ask to use depleted uranium weapons??? No....

The same people mocking the US military personnel for its heroism and desire to help in Japan's utmost time of need are the ones who called people "flygin" and other terms if they left the country given the dangers. Now it's berating the people that saved lives and helped because a company well known for its corruption is saying, "Well, we have our heads up our butts and lied, but surely the US had the technology to see our lies for what they were and stay away -- so it's THEIR fault for helping!".

Hope this makes a lot of international papers; that's the only way things make progress in this nation.

J Govt has No Honor..

In USA, when someone want to sue a large corporation such as GM auto responsibility, they have to find a law firm in the city in the state that has a headquarters to file lawsuit. Then from Federal Court of that city up up up if lawsuit wins until US Supreme Court. In business cases that are sued by US such as Price Fixing cases of auto part makers against Bridgestone and Bridgestone against Toyota can go to different procedure. If TEPCO is a US corporation, this lawsuit can be go on and on if TEPCO is headquartered in San Diego County in California. Orange County Register is reporting, not San Diego newspapers. Maybe ignored by media? Orange County Register report usually Los Angeles County and Orange County events with full of Hollywood gossips. But military related reports once in a while usually Camp Pendelton, not San Diego Naval Station unless it is funny. They must have paid a lot of initial down payment to the attorney group.

They must have paid a lot of initial down payment to the attorney group

International Lawyers don't come cheap

They could sue TEPCO in Japanese Court as TEPCO is based in Tokyo Japan. There are Tokyo attorneys specialized in litigation of criminal cases. Many have LLB in USA and there is no problems in language. But, there are many attorneys who take any cases even they don;t know simple Japanese phrases, in San Diego, too. They may know Konnichiwa, Arigato, Sayonara (instead of Sayounara) and they may bow and bow not knowing bowing is not upper class lawyers custom. The chance of Sailors could be better to sue in Japanese Court but it is in San Diego now. The court familiar with handling illegal Mexican illegal immigrants.

Why did not the JSDF ships deliver supplies instead of the San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan. Japan has ships to do the same thing....

Stop with this nonsense.

http://www.bousai.go.jp/kaigirep/kentokai/tamokutekisen/2/pdf/shiryou01.pdf

The Ronald Reagan was monitoring the radiation and in fact had to relocate farther away from shore because the carrier's commander was uncomfortable with the readings he was seeing. So these sailors are claiming... that they believed TEPCO over their own command? Not friggin' likely.

Ultrack: military enrolment is a free choice in the US (except for the very poor ones who see a chance to access to the American "dream") and they know US army is using depleted uranium weapons. The most dirty weapon invented to get rid of this useless and cheap to get rid of nuke bomb by-product.

Telco should just pay up even if it is just for goodwill!

Greed

As an ex-member of the US military war machine, I am appalled by these greedy people who are trying to make their life easier by being greedy. They joined the service VOLUNTARILY and agreed to FOLLOW the orders of their superiors. If those orders put them in any danger, blame the superiors, not the situation.

Last case ....... a judge said that put it beyond the reach of a U.S. court. An amended suit names only the utility, which runs the plant where three reactors went into meltdown and exploded in March 2011, sending radiation into the air.''

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Probably A judge in San Diego Court will give the same verdict. TEPCO official can declare 5th amendment for all charges. Not as many as 96 5th Amendment declared by one Las Vegas man some years ago but they can use US court procedure in USA. They should use Japanese attorneys and Japanese Court system if they want to win,

Wow, reading the comments here you would think most of the posters and readers were stoned, or at the bare minimum are extremely mixed up about right and wrong! TEPCO is one of the most corrupt and incompetent companies in the world, and you are giving "thumbs up" to comments against the sailors who were the victims! Do you people have no shame? I think I already now the answer, because all you seem to be worried about is your electric bills going up a few hundred yen. Shameful.

TEPCO is one of the most corrupt and incompetent companies in the world, and you are giving "thumbs up" to comments against the sailors who were the victims! Do you people have no shame? I think I already now the answer, because all you seem to be worried about is your electric bills going up a few hundred yen. Shameful.

Considering that I live in the U.S., what happens to TEPCO isn't going to affect my electricity bill at all.

TEPCO may be slimy, but if you're going to sue them you need to sue them for slime THEY did. I'm ex-navy and I know damn-well those troops that went ashore had dosimeters with them. That means they knew how much radiation they were being exposed to. They were there on their command's orders, not TEPCO's. They can't sue their command, though, so some shyster lawyer talked them into suing TEPCO. Even if the target is TEPCO, frivolous lawsuits just waste taxpayer's money.

@YogizunaAPR. 09, 2014 - 04:46AM JST Wow, reading the comments here you would think most of the posters and readers were stoned, or at the bare minimum are extremely mixed up about right and wrong! TEPCO is one of the most corrupt and incompetent companies in the world, and you are giving "thumbs up" to comments against the sailors who were the victims! Do you people have no shame? I think I already now the answer, because all you seem to be worried about is your electric bills going up a few hundred yen. Shameful

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Just like many comment writers, I never wrote to sympathize TEPCO. If you have any suggestion that can help these sailors to win the lawsuit, please write instead of criticizing all comment writers here. .

Fadamor Apr. 09, 2014 - 05:47AM JST TEPCO may be slimy, but if you're going to sue them you need to sue them for slime THEY did. I'm ex-navy and I know damn-well those troops that went ashore had dosimeters with them. That means they knew how much radiation they were being exposed to.

True as that may be, it fails to explain why the U.S. Navy would be so trusting and negligent in the first place. The Reagan is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Its officers and crew are or should be more sensitive than most to radioactive risk under all conditions, but especially when approaching a damaged nuclear power plant, and operating downwind of Fukushima.

It is different effect than 1945 A-bombs but women who were pregnant when A-bombs were dropped. New-born babies were called Atomic Bomb babies in Japan. If they are alive now, how old are they? they are kept alive in Nagasaki hospitals. They are called Pika-don babies in Japan. So, these Tomodachi sailors scared of cancer has big reason to be scared for entire their life.

The radiation rained down on the aircraft carrier suddenly in a heavy rain shower, so they were not prepared for something like that unfortunately. Since TEPCO lied to everybody about the situation in the days following the accident, they are just as responsible for what happened to the people on the ship as well as in Japan.

Well, here is another interesting site, just move the map to Fukushima Dai Ichi. On has a very high count. Not crazy about what's scrolled either.

<http://www.netc.com/ >

If they sued in Japanese court, they might be able to get pretty good settlement, In San Diego Court, The judge and jurors have to study about cancer, etc from scratch if the court decided to take this case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0wtzcbPtL8

I am sort of amazed the the USS Ronald Reagan is going to be stationed in Yokosuka. I thought this carrier was hopelessly contaminated and was going to be decommissioned. =They could not get the radiation out.

These US sailors have no case against TEPCO. You feel horrible because many enjoyed doing good for people in Japan that were in dire need.

http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/RGCHPSDARWG-Rademacher.pdf

I still feel people do not understand these effects of radioactive particles on human tissues.

ka_chan

Great Link the EPA's Rad Net only has the US... This one has Japan too

http://www.netc.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFyAg_poUF8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk6Sy1cNgXo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHuz4kUZ_zA

=they openly knew and worked around this radiation (they had to). Radiation from the water got into the ships water supply and ventilation (they do not have the ability to filter the radioactive water out).

Having said that these soldier's cases are only with the US Military even with all the TEPCO lying. =There is no basis for a lawsuit with TEPCO. The saddest part is the soldiers with this radiation poisoning are being denied the medical care they need from the Veteran's Administration (VA) --> as bad as the TEPCO lying was (and still is) the lying by the VA is most likely greater.

It really is almost unbelievable and Obama refuses to do anything about it, but the Gulf War illnesses (nerve gasses, depleted uranium, etc) were similar. I have no idea why the military servicemen allow this to happen and these people should unionize in order to enforce better work conditions. The American servicemen allow this to happen just like the TEPCO workers and part-time/temporary workers. TEPCO and US Military are very similar in this regard.

ka_chan

I checked Daiichi NPP with the link you provided. Unit 1 has the Cover on it and a Dosimeter must be in a casing attached to the cover of said unit. It is giving off a reading of 128,000 nanosieverts equaling 128 microsieverts which is good for a Temporary Sarcophagi. But at some point the temporary sarcophagi of Unit 1 will have to be replaced.

I really dislike Soldiers, Army and People with Guns and Rockets but here i need to say one more Time "Thank You" to this Guys from the Operation Tomodachi, you saved countless People in need!

I doubt that they will have success in the US with this Class Suit because their Lawyer is a naive Child who love to see his name in the Newspaper, he will do everything to push his World-View!

But we, as the People of and in Japan, should help this sick People, a true Operation Tomodachi, Japan, Tepco and us should invite them to look for the reason of their Claims, this is true Friendship and Gratitude!

"they were actually being blanketed with radiation that has since led to dozens of cancer cases and a child being born with birth defects"

And yet Japan is going to re-start some nuclear reactors. Incredible...

http://www.kadena.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-120426-002.pdf

True as that may be, it fails to explain why the U.S. Navy would be so trusting and negligent in the first place. The Reagan is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Its officers and crew are or should be more sensitive than most to radioactive risk under all conditions, but especially when approaching a damaged nuclear power plant, and operating downwind of Fukushima.

The navy wasn't trusting. They were constantly monitoring and when three of their helicopters returned with detectable radiation on the fuselages, the Reagan relocated farther offshore. Again, the navy KNEW the crew was not in a radiation-free zone as soon as the aircraft returned the first time, yet the crew was kept ashore. Why? Maybe the level of radiation wasn't that high. I imagine part of it was the huge PR effort that was being put behind "Operation Tomodachi". It wouldn't look good if the U.S. rushed up there, then backed-off. As funny as TEPCO's defense is in this lawsuit ("It's ludicrous to think anybody would take our word for it."), it actually has a ring of truth to it. As anal as the navy was about personal film badge dosimeters back when I was in the navy, I know these sailors were being monitored.

The one thing notably silent in this lawsuit is whether any sailor has experienced radiation-related health problems. I'm guessing the answer is "Not a single one."

Everybody likes easy money. Lawyer will encourage everyone who wants to sue Company like Tepco or Toyota for no win no fees. However, they have to pay some fees and other party costs if they lost. Layer will take away with 25% of compensation reward plus other fees.

Is it one of the recipes for rich in US culture?

they were actually being blanketed with radiation that has since led to dozens of cancer cases and a child being born with birth defects

And yet there is no proof that any of that was caused by radiation exposure. In fact all the research into radiation for the past 100+ years indicates that the problems these people are showing are NOT caused by radiation. Cancer and birth defects existed since before humans even existed.

While everyone has rights, this kind of lawsuit by active members of the US Armed Forces has a direct effect on our relationship with not just Japan, but every country allied with he U.S. under bilateral or collective security treaties and agreements. Washington needs to step on this before it disrupts U.S. defense policy.

Those sailors are opportunists, the US military doesnt maje drcisions based on external data, the sailors suing just want a a wuick way to get money. Pure nonsense. Its the Pentagon they should sue, no wait, they cant because they were performing tgeir duty under under and under the vonditions they signed up on. Bunch of wallies.

Go for it sailors! Even if the case is frivolous it could be a great opportunity to challenge TEPCO and force them to be honest with what happened and with what is happening. They are definitely not being honost now and definitely not being held accountable. It may take foreign pressure.

Shameful. It's like this that make me remind my wife to bury me in Japan, not my home country of America.

Shameful. It's like this that make me remind my wife to bury me in Japan, not my home country of America

Peter Payne

Yeah, great idea. Condemn an entire nation becuase of a few fools. Oh yeah, like Japan is a country above all that and the apotheosis of honor. If you spent just ten minutes on this site you could see the villians and the shameful acts in this country.

Forget all the demurrals, misleading official statements and outright lies from the Japanese government. The bottom line is that the governemnt of Japan put out false information which the US, JAPAN'S ONLY REAL ALLY IN THE WORLD, naively accepted as true. I hope this will serve as a lesson for the US -- there's a reason no government in all of Asia trusts Japan.

The bottom line is that the governemnt of Japan put out false information which the US, JAPAN'S ONLY REAL ALLY IN THE WORLD, naively accepted as true.

No, the USS Reagan took their own measurements and based their decisions on those readings.