An 8.4 magnitude earthquake and a resulting tsunami devastated Japan on 11 March 2011.  The earthquake caused widespread topographical damage and wreaked havoc on the island nation’s infrastructure.   As can be imagined, roads, bridges, power lines, and aquatic systems were heavily damaged, if not altogether destroyed. The most far-reaching and significant item that was damaged was the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima. (To see some amazing before and after photos of the Plant and Japan, go here.)

The significance arises, of course, because we are dealing with nuclear power and the real threat of widespread radiation and contamination.  It is far-reaching in that, geographically, the fallout from leaked chemicals can potentially stretch around the globe, and, medically, people can develop all types of diseases and ailments, the most-feared of which is any form of aggressive cancer.

It is unfortunate for those affected by current disasters to not have learned from past catastrophes, as is the present case of the Japanese handling of the evacuation of those in and near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.  Now, comparing Japan’s catastrophe to the Chernobyl incident in the former Soviet Union (in what would today be the independent nation of Ukraine), one would be tempted to say that Japan handled the situation magnificently.  But, according to scientists and academics, such was not the case.

News reports have inveighed against what they perceive to be the sloppy handling of the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.  According to a 26 December 2011 Financial Times article on the incident, “The operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant and its regulators all failed in their duty to adequately prepare for and respond promptly to a major emergency….Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the Fukushima plant, and its regulators were so unprepared for a major nuclear emergency that they lacked even the basic safety measures to respond to a disaster of the scale that hit Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the wake of the March 11 tsunami….”

There are even reports that warnings predicting precisely the scenario which occurred were ignored or possibly even ridiculed.  The Financial Times relates in its 06 May 2011 issue that a perspicacious nuclear engineer and member of the Japanese Communist party saw the handwriting on the wall after studying the aftermath of the Three Mile Island nuclear affair in the United States in 1979.  “Five years ago,” reports the FT, “he had outlined in parliamentary debate how a combination of earthquake and tsunami could knock out a Japanese atomic station’s cooling systems.  He was concerned less about flooding than the risk that water intakes might be left exposed when the sea drew back before a tsunami’s arrival.  Still, his insistence that the government needed to prepare for catastrophic cooling failure was prescient.  Reactor overheating could cause steam or hydrogen explosions, he warned.  ‘It is essential to have proper countermeasures in place for something that could be close to a Chernobyl.'”

Personally, I am unsure whether or not things could have been handled better by officials in positions of influence.  No matter how well one prepares for disaster, things can and oftentimes do go wrong.  The Japanese, who were atomically bombed by the U.S. during World War II, are a resilient people and are in bounce-back mode from this devastating blow.  Because of their rapport with the world scientific community and innovative abilities in technological matters, the world will most definitely profit from the research that will be gained from their experience.  Just like after World War II, they are forging ahead.

From an analysis done by the Financial Times and published on 10 November 2011, the government, along with scientific/academic/tech communities are doing some good things.  “For now, the government’s main hope of addressing fears is through better monitoring, more detailed data and a decontamination programme intended to reduce radiation to levels everyone can accept….Whatever the details, this will be a huge undertaking, requiring removal and disposal of vast amounts of contaminated soil and vegetable matter….As part of a government trial, over four days, teams of workers have pressure-sprayed the roof and removed 5-10cm of the garden soil.  The effort has cut radiation levels from above the 20 millisievert a year limit to about one-quarter of that….”  The average annual per capita radiation dose is 6.2 millisieverts.  (A millisievert measures the absorption of radiation by the human body.  Click here for more on how radiation is measured, from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s website.)

A government official even drank decontaminated water from one of Daiichi’s stricken reactors to reassure the people that recovery efforts were moving forward.  (Though he was visibly shaking as he poured the water into the glass, his courage and willingness to encourage confidence in recovery efforts is nothing less than heroic.)

The inventive nature of Japan’s citizens was quickened by the earthquakes devastation, and one invention in particular was an apparatus used to give workers a measure of comfort and security whilst working in the nuclear hot zone.  The HAL, or Hybrid Assistive Limb, was modified to allow workers to wear some cumbersome vests while working to contain and clean up the Nuclear Plant.  (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/inventions-offer-tools-to-endure-future-disasters.html?scp=6&sq=fukushima%20daiichi%20&st=cse)

So, after all is said and done, things are looking up for the people of Japan as they positively deal with the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami.  They have done it before and are certain to rise from the ashes again.