CHERNOBYL DISASTER COMMEMORATED IN TOKYO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 002074

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ENRG SOCI PARM TRGY JA
SUBJECT: CHERNOBYL DISASTER COMMEMORATED IN TOKYO

TOKYO 00002074 001.2 OF 002



1. (SBU) Summary. On April 16, Japanese anti-nuclear and
Chernobyl assistance organizations hosted a 20th anniversary
symposium on the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Yuri Scherbak,
current Foreign Policy Advisor to outgoing Verkhovna Rada
(Parliament) Speaker Lytvyn and former Ukrainian Ambassador
to the United States, gave the keynote address where he
discussed the health and social consequences of the accident
and explained how the disaster was a good example of the need
for democratic thought in both the political and S&T realms.
Japanese panelists focused on the need to understand the
overall social consequences of the disaster to prevent a
future reoccurrence of this tragedy. Unlike previous such
seminars where the discussion often turned to nuclear
non-proliferation and criticism of nuclear weapons holding
states, the featured speakers and panelists limited their
discussions to the disaster. End Summary.


2. (U) On April 16, ESToff attended a Symposium held in Tokyo
to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the April 26, 1986
Chernobyl Disaster. The four-hour symposium was sponsored by
several Japanese Chernobyl aid assistance groups and the
Citizen's Nuclear Information Center (CNIC),a fairly active
anti-nuclear group in Japan. Over 400 individuals attended
the day's events, which included a lecture by Yuri Scherbak,
current Foreign Policy Advisor to outgoing Verkhovna Rada
(Parliament) Speaker Lytvyn and former Ukrainian Ambassador
to the United States, as well as a panel discussion, photo
exhibits and the premier showing of a 25-minute documentary
on the liquidators, or the individuals sent in to clean up
the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after Unit Four exploded.
Unlike previous such seminars where the discussion often
turned to nuclear non-proliferation and criticism of nuclear
weapons holding states, the featured speakers and panelists
limited their discussions to the disaster.


3. (U) Ambassador Scherbak gave the keynote address, during
which he called Chernobyl the greatest nuclear catastrophe in
the history of mankind. He said the disaster destroyed the
nuclear industry's optimistic view about the safety and
secure development of atomic energy. Chernobyl -- a "monster
of the Soviet military-nuclear complex" that was followed by
government lies and deception -- was symbolic of the dangers
posed to mankind by "technological super systems." Scherbak
argued that the disaster expressed the importance of
democratic thought, not only within the political system, but
also within the field of science and technology, as the
tragedy was ultimately caused by human error and a
totalitarian system. It is critical to have civil society
involved in judging the costs and benefits of nuclear power
to provide a non-governmental perspective to the discussion.


4. (U) Scherbak then turned to the situation in the Soviet
Union directly following the accident. He talked about
secret orders to evacuate senior officials, the delays in

SIPDIS
informing citizens of what had occurred, and the sacrifices
made by the liquidators to control the raging fire and
contain the spewing radioactivity. Scherbak also discussed
the health and social consequences of the disaster, touching
on the increased cancer rates and immunodeficiency or
"Chernobyl AIDS", loss of homes and employment, distrust of
the government and international institutions such as the
IAEA and WHO, and the psychological suffering and complete
loss of optimism in those exposed to Chernobyl. He explained
that many in Ukraine feel that international organizations
have downplayed and underreported the number of victims, and
said that Chernobyl related groups plan to release new
figures that will be substantially higher to "reveal the
truth" of the accident at an upcoming conference to be held
in Kyiv. (Note: In a follow-up conversation with ESToff,
Scherbak also said that he would be in the United States on
April 26 to help commemorate the Chernobyl disaster.)


5. (U) Scherbak then returned to his earlier comments on
bringing balance to the discussion on nuclear energy. He
told the large number of audience members that it was not his
intent to get them to start demonstrating against nuclear
power plants, calling for their immediate closure --
something that was very possible, given the nature of the
audience. Instead, Scherbak said it was unrealistic to close
down all nuclear power plants given current energy needs
worldwide and concerns over rising CO2 emissions. Yet, it is

TOKYO 00002074 002.2 OF 002


important to thoroughly consider accidents such as Chernobyl
and not forget the human suffering and environmental
devastation that it caused. Understanding the risks of
nuclear power is critical. Scherbak concluded that it is
important to create the safest possible way forward for the
further development of atomic energy.


6. (U) After Ambassador Scherbak concluded his remarks, the
symposium hosted a panel discussion entitled "What Happened,
What Continues to Occur?" The three Japanese panelists
included Tetsuji Imanaka, Professor of Nuclear Engineering at
Kyoto University, Katsumi Furitsu, a medical doctor from
Osaka who has been actively involved in Chernobyl assistance
programs, and Ryuichi Hirokawa, a renown photographer who has
traveled extensively to Chernobyl to photograph the aftermath
of the disaster. The panelists focused much of their
comments on the need to understand the overall social
consequences of the disaster in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia,
and not to just look at the rates of cancer and other
diseases. There are many more victims who succumbed to
poverty and other social problems, and it was important to
understand this to prevent future accidents of this scale.
The panelists also criticized the data released from the IAEA
Chernobyl Forum held last September. Some of the panelists
claimed that the IAEA as well as the Hiroshima-based
Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) were not
accurately depicting the true number of Chernobyl victims.


7. (SBU) Comment: The symposium was a solemn commemoration
of the tragedy that occurred twenty years ago in Chernobyl.
Unlike typical CNIC sponsored events, comments were fairly
balanced while underscoring the need to prevent similar
disasters in the future. Anti-nuclear events in Japan often
involve some kind of criticism levied at the United States,
whether at the possibility of Japan hosting U.S. nuclear
aircraft carriers or on some aspect of U.S. nuclear weapons
programs. This time around, the only palpable criticism of
the United States that ESToff saw was in a multi-color
brochure included in the packet of handouts given to
participants that protested the hosting of a nuclear carrier
in Yokosuka.

SCHIEFFER