Fukushima was a nuclear power plant that was destroyed by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011. As a result of the natural distress a the power plant caused radioactive contamination across the country of Japan. Later that year in November 2011, “the Japanese Science Ministry reported that long-lived radioactive cesium had contaminated 11,580 square miles (30,000 sq km) of the land surface of Japan”, according to psr.org. The exposure limit in Japan is at the rate of 1 mSV (millisievert) per year but it was found the mainland exceeded those radiation levels.
The land within 12 miles (20 km) of the destroyed nuclear power plant, encompassing an area of about 230 square miles (600 sq km), and an additional 80 square miles (200 sq km) located northwest of the plant, were declared too radioactive for human habitation. The regions were evacuated and declared to be permanent “exclusion” zones. Radioactive cesium contaminated their crops, hence killing their agriculture exports . According to psr.org, ” … the Fukushima disaster produced the largest discharge of radioactive material into the ocean in history. Fifteen months after 733,000 curies of radioactive cesium were pumped into the Pacific, 56 percent of all fish catches off Japan were found to be contaminated with it.[vii] Fishing continues to be banned off the coast of Fukushima, where 40 percent of bottom dwelling fish (sole, halibut, cod) were recently found to have radioactive cesium levels higher than current Japanese regulatory limits. ”
In order to reverse the effects of the dissenter , Japan has continued to pour water in order to maintain the current state of cold shutdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. They are also working towards the decommissioning has been accelerated by conducting rubble removal at the site concurrently with cooling down. TEPCO has created an on-site storage tank to store the contaminated water which in the future Japan has the hopes to purify and release back into the environment.
So far the energy plan for the next 15 years involves the use of renewable sources, but will still draw heavily on the country’s traditional energy suppliers: unpopular nuclear power and imported fossil fuels. One of the alternative resources is the electricity supply however the shift would involve restarting most of the country’s idle nuclear-power plants.
In addition the plan includes reducing it reliance on Mideast oil, but “envisions imports of liquefied natural gas and coal accounting for more than 50% of Japan’s needs, far lower than current levels of coal and LNG usage but slightly higher than pre-Fukushima levels.”, as wsj.com mentions.
Furthermore Japan also plans to continue its use of coal, reduce carbon-dioxide emissions, and reduce its reliance on more-expensive liquefied natural gas. However this doesn’t stop companies’ plans to spend billions of dollars on new plants powered by cheap coal from countries like Australia and the U.S.
http://fukushimaontheglobe.com/the-earthquake-and-the-nuclear-accident/whats-happened#sthash.wtLG03Ww.dpuf
http://www.psr.org/environment-and-health/environmental-health-policy-institute/responses/costs-and-consequences-of-fukushima.html
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/nuclear/safety/accidents/Fukushima-nuclear-disaster/
http://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-struggles-to-find-balanced-energy-strategy-1431545581