Japan’s nuclear history is long and sordid. This tiny island nation in the West Pacific has seen a terrible radioactive past. Nuclear power has played such a part in its history that it has become somewhat etched into the cultural memory (for example, Godzilla’s creation story has to do with his awakening from a nuclear blast to realize he had atomic power). With last year’s tsunami and ensuing nuclear plant disaster, the country has entered a new phase with its relationship to nuclear power.
On the morning of August 6th, 1945, the world awoke to a horrible new reality. That morning, Americans awoke to the news that the Japanese city of Hiroshima had been hit with a tremendous new weapon: the atomic bomb. Three days later, the port city of Nagasaki was also bombed. Shortly thereafter, Imperial Japan surrendered unconditionally to the United States and the Allied Forces, thus ending major hostilities in World War II.
Years passed, and survivors of both atomic bomb blasts were left with bizarre permanent scars as well as inexplicable diseases previously unknown to science that were determined to be the result of tremendous levels of radiation poisoning. This terrible tragedy for Japan was even worse for survivors who had to face government incompetency as well as discrimination from those who feared them, for no one truly understood the radioactive nature of nuclear power. Indeed, the US refused to elaborate to Japanese officials even years after the war was over on the effects of radiation because the atomic bombs had been labeled as classified information. This bumbling incompetency at the hands of officials was one of the reasons that Terumi Tanaka and others formed the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Survivors Organization. According to a quote from the Mainichi Daily News, Tanaka and man others of his generation (including thousands of atomic bomb survivors) wanted to not “just be victimized by nuclear energy. [We] wanted to use it positively.”
Flash forward to March 11, 2011 – a category 9 earthquake hit just off the east coast of Japan. The worst was yet to come, as the earthquake caused the greatest tsunami Japan has seen in ages. It ravished the east coast of Japan, causing massive structural damage, tremendous loss of life, and untold suffering. As the country was reeling to get back on its feet, another disaster loomed. In the Fukushima prefecture, south of the main tsunami-hit Sendai area, the nuclear power plant plant run by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) began to experience trouble. Three of the six reactors at Fukushima Daiichi were “tripped” by the earthquake, causing them to stop the fission process inside – the other three reactors were fortunately shut off for inspection. As core temperatures began to rise more and more (as the fission process continues to produce heat energy even after the process has been stopped) authorities scrambled to find ways to prevent a total collapse. The shut-off reactors were flooded with water, cooling the reactors via a diesel generator that pumped water around the reactors to cool them. However, the tsunami sloshed tons of flood water into the generators, causing them to fail and the plant to become even more unstable. By nightfall, the government had declared at state of emergency at Fukushima, conceding that they were “bracing for the worst.” Many were alarmed and recalled the Chernobyl disaster in Soviet Ukraine in 1986.
The next day, authorities discovered that radiation around the plant was nearly eight times the normal level, and blamed this on discharge from a melted cesium fuel rod. Later, an explosion from inside the plant destroyed the containment structure built around one of the reactors and severely damaged the plant. As many as 200,000 people were ordered to evacuate the immediate surroundings. Two more explosions happened Monday, March 14, even as the Japanese government told its people and the world that the safety of the plant had not been compromised. These explosions made the government admit the possibility of total meltdown at the plant – a situation that would almost certainly rival Chernobyl. Radiation was found in citizens evacuated from the area, and on board the USS Ronald Reagan which happened to be at sea nearby. By the end of the day, only 50 people remained at Fukushima Daiichi, as the rest were evacuated due to extremely dangerous levels of radiation.
Fires sprung up in two of the reactors over the course of the next two days, but the plan to cool the reactors with seawater seemed to halt the process of ongoing meltdown. Over the next few weeks, radioactivity beyond normal, safe levels was found in Japan’s beef, vegetables, and milk. The 50 plant employees were exposed to tremendously dangerous levels of toxic and radioactive materials, and their health has likely been severely compromised for their bravery. The plant was finally stabilized after months of intensive work in September, 2011.
This disaster has sparked a new conversation in Japan about the safety and efficacy of nuclear power as a viable alternative to traditional energy sources and green energy. Terumi Tanaka’s A- and H-Bomb Survivors’ Organization sponsored a conference for all Japanese citizens about nuclear power and its drawbacks. Japan’s government was roundly criticized by its people for its slow and somewhat muddied efforts to control information and limit access to the plant, but did learn from past mistakes by immediately granting all who may have been exposed to radiation government-funded access to regular healthcare checkups throughout their lives – something that Bomb survivors were not treated to. The government has also been criticized for downplaying the dangers – a Norwegian study released in October 2011 found radiation levels were almost twice what was reported, and the nuclear disaster was initially graded as a 4 by the Japanese government. It was only upgraded to a 7 (the same level that Chernobyl received) after months had passed. With new reports about radiation levels rising in the oceans surrounding Japan, the full effect of the disaster is still unknown, even with nearly a year passed since.
References:
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20120114p2a00m0na001000c.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12722719
Great detail! Very interesting piece to read through. Provides the reader with a little more information that ties nicely to the rest of the topic.
We briefly discussed the content of your blog post in class, and I am thoroughly impressed by the time and effort you put into this! The fact that you discuss the tragic, historical experiences Japan has had with nuclear power and connect it to the modern devastation of Fukushima Daiichi is efficiently related and researched. Not to mention, your images are extremely attention-grabbing and intriguing! Good work, Phil.
This was very well written! Your connections to japanese pop culture and passed catastrophes were a nice segue into the subject. Besides being an interesting piece to read through, it is clear that it’s thoroughly researched and actually provides the reader with easily retainable content. Well done!
You had some good stuff in there. The pictures really helped with the writing