Post-disaster nuclear safety efforts continue
in Japan. Starting Thursday, June 16, a three-day
search was launched for the more than 7,700
people still officially missing nearly 100
days after the March 11 disaster. Meanwhile,
Japan's government has made it easier for
people to declare missing loved ones legally
deceased. Even over three months after the
initial quake and tsunami, Japan continues
to be rattled by aftershocks, with a 5.9-magnitude
temblor striking near the east coast of Honshu
on Saturday, centered 97 kilometers northeast
of the badly-affected Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture.
At the meeting of the government’s Coordinating
Committee for Earthquake Prediction on Monday,
June 13, Tohoku University researchers had
suggested the use of GPS data for faster calculation
of earthquake magnitudes and resulting tsunamis,
enabling much quicker response. The Tokyo
metropolitan government also plans to revise
a map showing areas susceptible to soil liquefaction
in the event of a powerful quake. Liquefaction
on March 11 had resulted in serious damage
to buildings and infrastructure along Tokyo
Bay. The new projection map is scheduled to
be made public by spring 2013.
Meanwhile, the struggle to bring the disaster-hit
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant under
control continues. A 160-page report by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
being presented Monday at a nuclear safety
meeting in Vienna, Austria states that while
the Fukushima plant engineers were to be commended
for their handling of the disaster, Japanese
officials did not implement a sufficient defense
system to guard against tsunamis and earthquakes.
The report recommends comprehensive changes
to better address potential future calamities.
Meanwhile, a survey reported on Sunday by
the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper revealed that
82% of Japanese, or 4 out of 5 people, want
to see nuclear energy phased out. Just five
hours after the Friday launch of an operation
to clean 100,000 tons of accumulated radioactive
waste water for re-use in continuing to cool
reactors, the procedure had to be halted as
radiation levels in the collecting device
rose much faster than expected. Tokyo Electric
Power Company (TEPCO) say it may take days
before the system can be restarted, and the
entire operation may need to be reconsidered.
Although TEPCO officials stated that this
latest problem would not delay the scheduled
January 2012 date for completely shutting
down the plant, a more immediate concern is
that the continued accumulation of highly
radioactive water could result in ocean overflow
within one week, with potentially international
effects.
Amid the ongoing nuclear crisis, more hot
spots registering high concentrations of radiation
are being discovered beyond the 20-kilometer
exclusion zone around the nuclear facility.
As a result, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio
Edano announced on Thursday that the government
plans to ask expectant mothers and children
to evacuate from these areas. The French government
is meanwhile calling for the European Union
to add products from Shizuoka Prefecture in
central Japan to the list of items requiring
examination after tea leaves imported from
the region into France were found to contain
over twice the amount of radioactive cesium
than the European Union limit.
We are thankful, Japanese and international
officials and personnel for your efforts to
resolve the radiation crisis. Our prayers
for the Earth’s protection from such dangers
through humanity’s more eco-conscious efforts�
