London Bangla A Force for the community…
There is a “high risk” that more radioactive material will be released as workers struggle to prevent further explosions and leaks at a quake-damaged nuclear plant, Japan’s prime minister says In a nationally televised statement Tuesday, Naoto Kan said radiation had spread from the four stricken reactors of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant along Japan ‘s northeastern coast. The region was shattered by Friday’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the ensuing tsunami that is believed to have killed more than 10,000 people, plunged millions into misery and pummelled the world’s third-largest economy. “There is still a very high risk of further radioactive material coming out,” the prime minister said through a translator. Kan said people living within 30 kilometres of the nuclear plant should stay indoors to minimize their exposure to the radiation. Anyone within 20 kilometres has already been told to leave the area.
He urged people to stay calm, and said technicians and staff at the power plant were doing everything they could to cool down the reactors, which have experienced breakdowns in the vital cooling system.
The warnings came after a Tuesday morning blast at reactor No. 2 — the third explosions at the nuclear complex since the quake and tsunami knocked out power, crippling the systems needed to keep nuclear fuel cool. There was also a fire at reactor No. 4 on Tuesday, Japanese officials said. Japanese officials told the International Atomic Energy Agency that the reactor fire was in a storage pond and “radioactivity is being released directly into the atmosphere.” Long after the fire was extinguished, a Japanese official said the pool, where used nuclear fuel is kept cool, might be boiling. “We cannot deny the possibility of water boiling” in the pool, said Hidehiko Nishiyama, an official with the Economy Ministry, which oversees nuclear safety. That reactor, Unit 4, had been shut down before the quake for maintenance. Yukio Edano, chief cabinet secretary, warned that the fire had helped release more radiation.
“These are figures that potentially affect health. There is no mistake about that,” he said, adding that people should stay indoors and try to make their homes airtight. Experts noted that much of the leaking radiation was apparently in steam from boiling water. It had not been emitted directly by fuel rods, which would be far more virulent, they said. “It’s not good, but I don’t think it’s a disaster,” said Steve Crossley, an Australia-based radiation physicist. Even the highest detected rates were not automatically harmful for brief periods, he said. Japanese officials had previously said radiation levels at the plant were within safe limits, and international scientists said that while there were serious dangers, there was little risk of a catastrophe like Chornobyl in Ukraine. Concerns about radiation from leaking nuclear reactors is causing anxiety for people in Japan, including visitors trying to flee the area devastated by the earthquake and tsunami.
The only major route heading south from Fukushima city is jammed with stop and go traffic as an exodus of people try to flee the region. Most drivers and passengers were wearing masks. “I don’t think they are telling us the truth. Maybe even they don’t know,” said Toshiaki Kiuchi, a 63-year-old innkeeper whose business in the community of Soma was flooded by waistdeep water in Friday’s tsunami. Soma is about 50 kilometres north of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which means it’s about 20 kilometres from the evacuation zone. “It’s like a horror movie,” said 49-yearold Kyoko Nambu as she stood on a hillside overlooking her ruined hometown of Soma. “Our house is gone and now they are telling us to stay indoors. “We can see the damage to our houses, but radiation? … We have no idea what is happening. I am so scared.” The disaster has fuelled fallout fears in Japan , which relies heavily on nuclear power but whose public is especially sensitive to radiation due to the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“We are really afraid, as if we didn’t already have enough to worry about. You can’t see fallout so we are totally relying on them for our lives,” said Shinako Tachiya, 70. A lifelong resident of Soma, who was cleaning up her lightly damaged house on high ground overlooking the ravaged town. Even though their town is outside the evacuation zone, residents of Soma worry they could be threatened by further nuclear problems.
“I used to believe the nuclear power officials, but not now. I think they are not being open with us. They aren’t telling us anything,” said Tachiya. “The only information we get is what we see on TV or hear on the radio. They don’t tell us anything about our safety, just technical jargon and warnings to stay out of the official evacuation zone,” said Kiuchi. Panicked residents began leaving the town Monday night after a second explosion was reported. “We have to get out of here now!” one man said. “It’s just not safe anymore.” Kiuchi is one of those who have stayed. He said he has no way of leaving even if he was evacuated because his car was wrecked by the tsunami. “This is where we live. They built a nuclear facility here, so we just have to deal with it.”
Visitors to Japan have been clogging airports trying to leave the country. Alexander Banko, 28, of Montreal was visiting his brother, who lives in Tokyo , but the entomologist was happy to be heading home Tuesday on an Air Canada flight out of Narita airport. “If I had no plane ticket for today, I would’ve left earlier,” he said. “It’s not conclusive about the radiation … it’s not enough studied.”
Hristina Gaydarska, 28, who lives in Eastern Europe, has been studying public policy in Japan for the past six months and has been trying to book a flight home. She was supposed to stay for a year, but she’s not sure she will return.
“I think we should really worry. It’s Japanese culture that they accept it’s their destiny. But I think we should leave,” she said.
Dozens of Chinese citizens jostled for a seat on one of half a dozen buses chartered by their government in Migata, on Japan ‘s west coast. They are hoping to get on flights back to China to escape the radiation risks from the crippled reactors about 150 kilometres away. The Department of Foreign Affairs is advising Canadians against non-essential travel to Tokyo and surrounding areas, as well as the quake and tsunami- affected prefectures of Chiba , Miyagi, Ibaraki , Iwate and Aomori . The department is advising against all travel within 20 kilometres of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Japan’s nuclear woes have compounded challenges already faced by the Tokyo government as it deals with twin disasters that flattened entire communities.
Global concerns have also been raised about the safety of nuclear power at a time when it has seen a resurgence as an alternative to fossil fuels. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said the Japanese government has asked the agency to send experts to help.
