Japanese Elderly Offer to Take Over Fukushima Nuclear Cleanup
The Cleanup at Fukushima via BBCOlder men argue they have less chance of developing radiation-induced cancer in their lifetimes Let the young rebuild Japan, says Yasuteru Yamada, but let the old clean up the most difficult mess leftover from March's devastating earthquake and tsunamis. The 72-year-old former engineer is recruiting other retirees to replace the younger workers currently braving radiation exposure at Japan's damaged Fukushima nuclear power complex. It's not a question of bravery or experience, he says, but one of biological logic. Yamada tells the BBC: "I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live," he says. "Even if I were exposed to radiation, cancer could take 20 or 30 years or longer to develop. Therefore us older ones have less chance of getting cancer." Yamada isn't alone in his desire to help clean up the mess in Fukushima prefecture. He's enlisted 200 of his...