The Tohoku Earthquake, which took place on March 11, 2011, sent Japan into a frenzy. Once of the most dangerous outcomes of this quake was the devastation it caused on the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant. While reading about the Fukushima disaster, I was completely in awe. It is terrifying to think about how quickly something so large can be completely destroyed. As if it was not enough of a scare that this gigantic plant practically melted away to nothing in a matter of hours, the effects that this incident had on the people of Japan were even more horrific.
Natural disasters are becoming more prevalent through out or world due to the significant changes in our atmosphere. This accident was deemed the largest nuclear disaster since 1986 (according to the International Business times, Australia). Unfortunately, it will not be the last that our world will see. Months have passed and the people of Japan are still struggling to recover the plant. The explosion released radioactive material and excessive amounts of heat.
Horrified and defeated, Tepko (the company that runs the Fukushima plant), lead by Banri Kaieda, the current minister, decided to remove all staff from the plant and let nature take its course. Naoto Kan, a Japanese politician and former minister, refused to give up on recovering the plant. In an article published on September 8th in The Guardian, Kan reported ” ‘It was truly a spine-chilling thought,’ he told the Tokyo Shimbun, adding that he foresaw a situation in which greater Tokyo’s 30 million people would have to be evacuated, a move that would ‘compromise the very existence of the Japanese nation’.” (Jason McCurry). The severity of the disaster has continued to be under exaggerated in order to ease the citizens of Tokyo. No one knows what the outcome will be. One can only hope that the decisions made by the people in power are truly in favor of what is best for the people of their nation.