Summary: Listen Now Download the show by right-clicking the link. Kono Taro This week, Dr. Caldicott speaks with Kono Taro for an in-depth look at Japans reaction to the Fukushima meltdown. Mr. Kono is Director General of Japans Liberal Democratic Partys International bureau and a fifth-term Member of the House of Representatives in Japan. He is especially critical of the governments pursuit of a so-called closed nuclear fuel cycle whereby plutonium is extracted from spent fuel by nuclear waste re-processing within Japan. Mr. Kono also opposes the building of new nuclear power plants as the government has not dealt with the nuclear-waste issue. Some of the topics Dr. Caldicott and Mr. Kono discuss are the Japanese government and industry reaction to the Fukushima disaster, how Japanese citizens are dealing with the after-effects of the meltdown, the likelihood of birth defects post-Fukushima, radioactive food, whether Japan will continue to rely on nuclear power, the threat of future earthquakes on the island, whether or not Japan has any interest in building nuclear weapons, and the Chinese military presence in the vicinity of Japan. Relevant to this conversation are the articles Japanese Govt Kept Secret Worst-Case Scenario Post-Fukushima, Cesium from Fukushima plant fell all over Japan, Fukushima cesium equals 168 Hiroshimas, Helen Caldicott, M.D.: After Fukushima: Enough is Enough, Fukushima: A Nuclear War without a War: The Unspoken Crisis of Worldwide Nuclear Radiation, Women Fight to Save Fukushimas Children, and Japan must say no to nuclear!
