Japan: The next wave (Video)

We investigate the long-term effects of the 2011 tsunami, including a potential cancer threat for Fukushima's children.

 

Source:Al Jazeera

On March 11, 2011, the ground trembled and the sea engulfed the coastal towns in Japan's Fukushima prefecture. The earthquake and tsunami led to a nuclear disaster which became synonymous with the infamous Chernobyl and Three-Mile accidents.
Today, spacious luxury neighbourhoods have been dramatically transformed into decaying ghost towns, a scene from a post-apocalypse movie. And two years on, while the country struggles to rebuild itself, many say the crisis is far from over.

On a stretch of lonely beach in the heavily contaminated no-go zone surrounding the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, one man is on a lonely mission. His seven-year-old daughter is the only person unaccounted for after a five-storey tsunami crushed the nearby town of Okuma in March 2011. The authorities stopped looking for her long ago, but Norio Kimura has not and never will. It is unlikely he will find his little girl and yet he trudges on, looking for clues. Among the pieces he has found is a shoe he says belonged to his dead child.

In a private children's hospital well away from the no-go zone, parents are holding on tight to their little sons and daughters, hoping doctors will not find what they are looking for - thyroid cancer.

Tests commissioned by the local authorities have discerned an alarming spike in the incidence of thyroid cancer in Fukushima children. Out of 200,000 children screened so far in government-ordered tests, there are 18 confirmed cases of thyroid cancer and 25 suspected cases. While specialists and experts are reluctant to draw a definitive link between the tumours and the nuclear radiation that erupted from the stricken power station, they are nonetheless deeply concerned.

Former thyroid surgeon, Akira Sugenoya says the spike in numbers should be taken seriously. He knows the devastation radiation can have after spending five years operating on hundreds of Chernobyl children suffering from thyroid cancer. But Professor Geraldine Thomas, a specialist in the molecular pathology of cancer in Imperial College London, says the fears are unfounded and have driven Japanese mothers to make unnecessary choices, including abortions.

It is not just the children who are a cause for concern. Farmer Kazuya Tarukawa worries that his crops have been contaminated and fears the radiation effects will be passed down the food chain. His crops may have passed the government's radioactive safety limits but Tarukawa's conscience is burning. He believes the government's safety limits are inaccurate.

What are the long-term effects of Japan's earthquake and tsunami? 101 East investigates the next wave of pain and fear after Japan's nuclear crisis.

 

Damaged Nuclear Plant in Japan Leaks Toxic Water

By MARTIN FACKLER

TOKYO — Tens of thousands of gallons of radioactive water leaked from a large underground storage pool at Japan’s crippled nuclear plant, and thousands more gallons could seep out before the faulty pool can be emptied, the plant’s operator said Saturday.  

About 120 tons, or almost 32,000 gallons, of highly contaminated water appeared to have breached the inner protective lining of the pool at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, said the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company. It was unclear how much of the water had made it through two additional layers of lining to reach soil, but radiation levels outside the pool have risen, a sign that some water is getting out, said the company, known as Tepco. 

The leak highlights the daunting challenge of what to do with the huge amounts of contaminated water created by makeshift cooling systems at the plant, after a huge earthquake and tsunami knocked out its regular cooling systems two years ago in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. Since then, Tepco has essentially been pouring water onto the damaged reactor cores and storage ponds to keep them from overheating. 

As it is used for cooling, the water becomes so contaminated that it must be safely stored at the plant. Tepco said it was already storing more than a quarter-million tons of radioactive water in hundreds of large silver or blue tanks that seem to fill every available space at the plant, or in underground pools like the leaking one. With the decommissioning of the Fukushima plant likely to take decades, Tepco has said it expects the amount of radioactive water to keep growing, and possibly more than double within three years. The company has said it is building more storage space and new filtering facilities to clean the water. 

The company said the leak appeared to be the biggest since the early months after the March 2011 disaster, when leaks allowed contaminated water to flow into the nearby Pacific Ocean. Tepco said that this time, it did not expect any of the toxic water to reach the sea, since the pool is half a mile from the coast. 

Still, Tepco said it had begun pumping the remaining 13,000 tons of water out of the faulty pool and into a similar pool. The pools are like large ponds dug into the ground, protected by multiple layers of plastic sheets and covered with dirt. 

Emptying the damaged pool could take five more days, the company said, during which time an additional 47 tons, or about 12,000 gallons, could leak. 

A version of this article appeared in print on April 7, 2013, on page A14 of the New York edition with the headline: Nuclear Plant In Japan Leaks Toxic Water

For Fukushima Workers, Cancer Isn’t the Only Health Threat (video)

Source: FRONTLINE 
by Sarah Childress

Two years after the earthquake and tsunami that damaged reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, questions remain about the health of the workers who desperately battled to save the plant.

But their cancer risks may be lower than anticipated. A World Health Organization report, released last month (pdf), found that radiation exposure remained low. But the report also flagged another major concern: psychological trauma.

A 2012 study found that it was common for workers who were at Daiichi that day to suffer from mental trauma and even post-traumatic stress.

The Fukushima 50, as they are known, were actually hundreds of workers who braved the dangers of radiation exposure to try to control the damage.

Nearly half of the workers at Daiichi were found to suffer from psychological distress, worsened in part by the evacuation from the tsunami and major property losses. About 30 percent were found to have post-traumatic stress, a figure on par with American veterans from the Iraq war.

The trauma has been exacerbated for some workers, who have suffered from discrimination and slurs, the study found. Landlords have refused to rent apartments to them, and people have shouted insults and thrown things at them.

That’s because many Japanese consider the workers, employed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which managed the reactors, to be partially responsible for what happened. TEPCO came under heavy criticism for its handling of the incident.

To better understand what they experienced that day, watch FRONTLINE’s Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown, which re-airs tonight on many PBS stations (check local listings). Hear the story of what it was like for those workers on March 11, 2011 in their own words. As one of the employees, who gave his name as Ono, told FRONTLINE, “We knew that the huge tsunami was coming, but we still could not guess what kind of devastation would be caused by it afterwards.”

He added: “Something beyond the scope of our assumptions occurred.”

You can also watch the full film online, anytime.

Watch Inside Japan's Nuclear Meltdown on PBS. See more from FRONTLINE.

President Obama's Bilateral Meeting with Prime Minister Abe of Japan (video/transcript)

The two Governments confirm that should Japan participate in the TPP negotiations, all goods would be subject to negotiation, and Japan would join others in achieving a comprehensive, high-standard agreement, as described in the Outlines of the TPP Agreement announced by TPP Leaders on November 12, 2011.

Recognizing that both countries have bilateral trade sensitivities, such as certain agricultural products for Japan and certain manufactured products for the United States, the two Governments confirm that, as the final outcome will be determined during the negotiations, it is not required to make a prior commitment to unilaterally eliminate all tariffs upon joining the TPP negotiations.

The two Governments will continue their bilateral consultations with respect to Japan’s possible interest in joining the TPP.  While progress has been made in these consultations, more work remains to be done, including addressing outstanding concerns with respect to the automotive and insurance sectors, addressing other non-tariff measures, and completing work regarding meeting the high TPP standards.

Tight laws cited for Japan low gun death rate (video)

Critics of loose US gun laws look to Japan's stringent gun control legislation and its low crime rate.

In contrast to the United States, Japan has some of the toughest guns laws in the world.
Pro-ban lobbyists in Japan point to the low gun death rate, amounting to barely a dozen each year, as evidence that gun control works.

Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride reports from Japan.

Gun control laws and policy vary greatly around the world. Some countries, such as the United Kingdom or Germany, have very strict limits on gun possession while others, such as the United States, have relatively modest limits.

It is not surprising though, that countries with very strict laws related to gun ownership have also the lowest gun related crime rates.

Thus it's not understandable that the head of the NRA (National Rifle Association of America) Wayne LaPierre has called for even more guns in the United States. He blamed the media for pushing a narrative that guns are to blame for mass shootings, and rejected calls for further gun restrictions.