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“The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster is a Serious Crime”: Interview with Koide Hiroaki 福島核災害は明らかに深刻な犯罪である—小出裕章氏に聞く
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 March 2025
Extract
Koide Hiroaki (66) has emerged as an influential voice and a central figure in the anti-nuclear movement since the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi of March 11, 2011. He spent his entire career as a nuclear engineer working towards the abolition of nuclear power plants. His powerful critique of the “nuclear village” and active involvement in anti-nuclear movements “earned him an honorable form of purgatory as a permanent assistant professor at Kyoto University.” Koide retired from Kyoto University in the spring of 2015, but continues to write and act as an important voice of conscience for many who share his vision of the future free from nuclear energy and weapons. He has authored 20 books on the subject. Professor Kasai Hirotaka and I visited his office at Kyoto University's Research Reactor Institute in Kumatori, Osaka, on December 26th, 2014 for this interview. We believe that the contents of the interview, which offer new information about the degree of radioactive contamination and invaluable insight into Koide's ethical and political stance as a scientist, remain crucial for our critical reflection on ecological destruction, the violation of human rights, and individual responsibility. Professor Robert Stolz, the translator of this interview and the author of Bad Water (Duke University Press, 2015), provides a historical perspective on the interview in a separate article.
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References
Notes
1 Koide Hiroaki, “The Truth About Nuclear Power: Japanese Nuclear Engineer Calls for Abolition,” The Asia-Pacific Journal Vol 9, Issue 31 No 5, August 1, 2011.
2 Translator's note: There is also a significant amount Cs-134 (although now perhaps 20% of Cs-137 totals). Large amounts of Cs have flowed into the ocean as well. Cs-134 is the main tracer for following Fukushima effluents in the ocean. I am indebted to Timothy Mousseau for this insight.
3 放射線管理区域 “Controlled area means an area, outside of a restricted area but inside the site boundary, access to which can be limited by the licensee for any reason.”
4 See the English translation of his testimony at the Diet: Koide Hiroaki, “The Truth About Nuclear Power: Japanese Nuclear Engineer Calls for Abolition” The Asia-Pacific Journal Vol 9, Issue 31 No 5, August 1, 2011.
5 “Tanemaki Journal,” an Osaka based radio show by Mainichi Broadcasting Station, began to air critical evaluations of the Fukushima incident immediately after March 11th. Tanemaki Journal invited Koide as a commentator on a daily basis and he offered astute and up-to-date comments on the disaster. Despite, or perhaps because of, its popularity, according to some reports, the radio program was shut down in July 2012 under pressure from Kansai Electric Power Company which was a major sponsor of the TV station MBS. When Mainichi announced the termination of Tanemaki, listeners protested outside the company's office. The program won a Sakata Memorial Journalism Award in March 2012.
6 Kariya Tetsu, Oi Shinbo 111 Fukushima no shinjitsu (Tokyo: Shōgakukan, 2014). The episode was published in April 28th, 2014 in a popular comic book. After returning from their visit to Fukushima, Protagonist and his father began to feel very dull and experienced nosebleeds. The episode developed into a social and political issue as it came under attack by conservative politicians and media for stirring up “damage by rumor.”
7 Oi Shinbo discusses the theory that nosebleeds may be the result of ionizing radiation that converts H2O in the nasal passages to the hydroxyl radical HO which can then form hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), see Kariya, Oi Shinbo, 111: 240-48.
8 Kyushu Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) reactivated the No. 1 reactor in August 2015 and No. 2 in October in the same year. Abe Shinzō's government expressed confidence in the safety the restart by calling the new safety measure “the world toughest.” According to the Japan Times, the government plans to have nuclear power account for 20 to 22 percent of the country's total electricity supply by 2030, compared with roughly 30 percent before the disaster at the Fukushima complex. The government continues with the policy despite the overwhelming public opposition against the reactivation of the reactors and the clear evidence that Japanese economy is sustainable without nuclear energy.
9 Mutō Ruiko and Fukushima residents filed a lawsuit against TEPCO and the Japanese government officials, seeking criminal responsibility for the Fukushima nuclear accident. Muto's interview will be published in the Asia-Pacific Journal this year.
10 In September 2015, TEPCO released its first 850 tons of filtered radioactive groundwater into the sea. This is a part of TEPCO's “subdrain plan” that was approved in late July, 2015, after a year-long battle with local fishermen who opposed the release fearing that it would pollute the ocean and contaminate the marine life. 300 tons of contaminated water is being generated at the plant daily. TEPCO has yet to deal with remaining 680.000 tons of highly contaminated water that was used to cool the reactors during the 2011 meltdown.
11 Kashiwazaki is a city in Niigata prefecture.
12 The Tokaimura nuclear accident occurred on September 30th 1999, resulting in two deaths. It was the worst civilian nuclear radiation accident in Japan prior to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of 2011. The criticality accident happened in a uranium processing facility operated by JCO, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. in the village of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture. Both the national and the prefectural governments failed to deal promptly with the accident due to the lack of evacuation plan and Tatsuya Murakai, then the major of the Tokaimura, decided to evacuate villagers from the affected area. 27 workers, who contained the crisis, were exposed to radioactivity.
13 Tanaka Shōzō (1841-1913) is considered to be Japan's first environmentalist. Tanaka is well known for his activism in connection with pollution caused by waste from the Ashio Copper Mine in Tochigi prefecture. From the mid-1880s, the Watarase river near the mine became was heavily contaminated by mine waste and in 1890 a large flood carried poisonous waste from the mine into surrounding fields and villages. Tanaka took the cause to the National Diet as a member of the House of Representatives, but it ended with little success. In 1900, Tanaka and villagers in the valley of the Watarase river planned a mass protest in Tokyo, but were stopped and dispersed by government troops. He resigned from the Diet in 1901 and made a direct appeal to Emperor Meiji. He became the supporter of local autonomy and developed his own anti-war, anti-imperialist, and environmental philosophy. He died of cancer in Yanaka village in 1913.