Nuke crisis refugee fought losing 18-year legal battle against Fukushima plant (JAPAN)

[AsahinaKimi]

Sanzo Onoda is pictured in the city of Niigata in this recent photo. (Mainichi)

NIIGATA -- In 1992, Sanzo Onoda and his fellow plaintiffs lost their 18-year legal battle to have one of Fukushima's nuclear power plants shuttered. He and 400 others originally filed the case against the construction of the Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Plant in 1975, pointing to the dangers of a catastrophe in the event of a major earthquake or tsunami.

The retired high school teacher, who continued to plead fruitlessly with plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) over the safety of the coastal reactors even after the case was dismissed, is now a nuclear crisis refugee here, some 200 kilometers from his home.

"We have no idea when the next major earthquake will come," says Onoda, 73. "Now is the time to rid ourselves of our dependence on nuclear power."

In 1975, when the national government gave permission for the building of the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima No. 2 plant, Onoda decided to take legal action, thinking, "After building the No. 1 plant, TEPCO's going to construct another one even though it hasn't yet guaranteed its safety. We are not guinea pigs." He collected a total of 401 plaintiffs, his coworkers among them, for the class action suit to have the building permit revoked.

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http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110724p2a00m0na009000c.html

wow!

[sakabatou]

1. Wait... they KNEW this kind of stuff would happen for almost 20 years?

:wtf:

[AsahinaKimi]

2. But I guess they wouldn't listen to a

Retired School Teacher.

[sakabatou]

3. Profits over people

[Omaha Steve]

4. He was right seems kind of an understatement

K&R!

[AsahinaKimi]

5. Yes!

Agree~100%