Japan Press Weekly

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2011 November 9 - 15 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Data on 13,000 ‘black rain’ cases discovered

The Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), a Japan-U.S. joint research body, has stored data on 13,000 cases regarding the effects on people of radioactive “black rain,” falling to earth after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This was disclosed by the Nagasaki Doctor and Dentist Association on November 8.

The new discovery could reverse the established theory that the black rain did not induce negative effects on human bodies.

According to the Association, the data are based on interviews the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC), the predecessor of the RERF, conducted during the 1950 with 120,000 A-bomb survivors.

One of questions given to the Hibakusha was whether they had been exposed to fallout rain, to which 13,000 of them answered, “Yes”.

The Nagasaki Doctor and Dentist Association on the same day sent to Health Minister Komiyama Yoko a statement calling for disclosure and analysis of the data. Vice Chair Honda Koya said, “The Fukushima nuclear accident has raised citizens’ concerns about low-dose and internal exposure to radiation. We hope that the government releases the data, which are important to help determine the impact of nuclear fallout on human bodies.”