So the assignment is to present the Fukushima Daiichi incident in a light that reflects what we personally think the audience should know about it. At first I thought, hey, easy, this nuclear disaster was a huge deal. There should be information everywhere!
Oh was I wrong.
It seems as though the world at large has totally forgotten about the fact that nuclear meltdown was a very real threat for Japan less than a year ago.
Where are the recent articles? Where are the updates? What about all the people displaced by this disaster?
Where did it all go?
I’ve decided to recap the events as they unfolded just so we all remember just how dire this situation is.
Explosion at nuclear plant in Japan – YouTube.
This report for Al Jazeera was done as the reactor was failing, which happened in March of 2001, 10 months ago. Note all the scary scrolling facts while the reporter discusses the reactor’s status.
But let’s back up a minute here. There were other things going on before the nuclear situation eclipsed everything.
Remember the earthquake?
The massive earthquake was followed by a tsunami. During this Al Jazeera broadcast, reporter Azhar Sukri makes it clear just how much devastation Japan was already facing:
New pictures are emerging of the moment the tsunami struck northeastern Japan. – YouTube.
Despite the Japanese government’s attempt to maintain calm about the crisis, the nuclear threat level was raised from 5 to 7 almost a month later (pushing the incident to the same level as the 1986 Chernobyl disaster). We all heard the broadcasts. We knew that people had been evacuated from their homes and businesses. We knew that there might be radiation in the milk in California. We followed the story until we knew one thing for sure: it wasn’t going to affect us.
Classy.
As I Googled “fukushima daiichi status” I came up with many of the same links that I am sure my classmates will have found. One in particular caught my eye. It was a published report released by the IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) which was also the most recent piece of literature I could find. The PDF report was published on November 10, 2011. It detailed the current scientific statistics on the ongoing repairs of the nuclear plant and also the food samples that had tested positive for higher than acceptable levels of radiation separated by region. At the end of the report I noticed a literal bold statement:
“The IAEA will continue to issues regular status reports to the public on the current status of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.”
It’s almost the end of January!
Why weren’t there more reports available to the public on the website? I even clicked on the video that was supposed to detail how to treat possibly contaminated water…and got some serious Japanese error messages.
BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE.
Guess where I found the updates.
No really, guess.
THE FACEBOOK PAGE OF THE IAEA.
I kid you not. That was it. That was where they were posting the most recent news about the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. You can “like” their updates.
The part about all of this that worries me is the following:
OH WOW, nuclear reactors! Though the world seems to think that the tragedy in Japan has subsided, there wasn’t quite enough uproar about the fact that this could happen to any of the active locations at any time.
I hear your protests. The odds of an enormous earthquake hitting Massachusetts and then having that be followed by an enraged tsunami do seem astronomically small. But what if something does happen? How do people prepare for an event like nuclear leaks?
I did some more googling. The Red Cross provides a brochure that includes this little gem:
“How can I protect myself in case of a nuclear power plant accident?
The three basic ways to reduce your exposure are through:
• Time. Decrease the amount of time you spend near the source of radiation.
• Distance. Increase your distance from a radiation source.
• Shielding. Increase the shielding between you and the radiation source. Shielding is anything that creates a barrier between people and the radiation source. Depending on the type of radiation, the shielding can range from something as thin as a plate of window glass or as thick as several feet of concrete. Being inside a building or a vehicle can provide shielding from some kinds of radiation.” (source: www.redcross.org/images/pdfs/code/nuclear_power_plant.pdf)
The brochure is pretty vague. However, there was one section of information that I found oddly specific. Under the heading labeled “Facts and Fiction” there was a single note.
“Fiction: People exposed to radiation “glow” with radioactivity.
Facts: Radioactive material can burn the human body, but exposed people do not become radioactive themselves. Radiation never causes a person to “glow.” ”
That was the only thing they wanted to clear up?
Confusing.
Folks, in the event of being exposed to radiation, please do not turn off your lights and check to see if you light up the room.
Here’s the big worry, the one that no one wants to discuss: if there were nuclear meltdown, there isn’t a way to ensure that everyone is safe. Though less frequently referenced, there was a partial meltdown incident that took place here on the East Coast almost 33 years ago. Voice of America did a report on the incident here:
Three Mile Island, 32 Years Later – YouTube.
Evacuations took place during the Three Mile Island incident, as residents were urged to leave the area. Even though complete nuclear meltdown did not occur, and the containment methods worked, it was clear that something even so small as a malfunctioning part could have serious consequences.
One Part.
With three major incidents of the nuclear reactor type on the world’s record, it’s time for some feverish work into alternate forms of power.
If Angela Merkel were to read your blog, she would pat herself on the back and count you among the many fans of her decision to wean Germany from nuclear power within the next 10 years. Your cynical tone definitely reflects the indifference echoed throughout the world when a tragedy strikes, where the obligatory “shock” is expressed for a few days and then it’s business as usual.
It took me awhile to figure out what kind of four-legged animal or tree that was in one of the pictures, but it finally dawned on me that it was two ostriches with their heads in the sand. A great illustration of how fickle and apathetic the world can be towards the suffering of others.
It was truly enjoyable reading your amusingly lucid and informative account of this unfortunate incident. To give the IAEA the credit they deserve, though, they did have a report dated 27 January 2012, three days after you initially posted your blog. I ran across it while editing my blog and doing some further research on the topic. Good job!
Your blog was very creatively done! I completely agree that the information on Fukushima was very limited. Which is completely absurd considering the effect it had on so many people!