A group of retired Japanese people have volunteered to tackle the problems at the Fukishima nuclear power station. They reason that they should be the ones exposed to the radiation, not younger people. The group has been organised by Mr. Yasuteru Yamada, who says “I am 72 and on average I probably have 13 to 15 years left to live. 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. The government has thanked the group, but has not yet given them permission to enter the power station. You can read more here.
5 thoughts on “Japanese pensioners offer to tackle nuclear meltdown”
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Feminist Philosophers 
I think this is stunning. I’m trying to think of something to say that isn’t too simplistic. Their actions argue a different conception of the individual’s place in society? But we did know that already…
Yes – I couldn’t think of anything to say that wasn’t totally obvious, so I gave up trying to provide any commentary. Glad you like the story.
Wow.
@jj: I’m struck that they don’t describe their actions as patriotic self-sacrifice, but rational risk-management. Perhaps that’s just self-effacement, though.
Remarkable. I also saw somewhere that they felt the problem was caused by their generation, and they did not want to inflict it on the next generation, but to clean up what they had caused (even though as individuals they did not cause the problem). Amazing.