Recovery slow as Japan marks 2 years since tsunami

[AsahinaKimi]

TOKYO (AP) — Amid growing dissatisfaction with the slow pace of recovery, Japan marked the second anniversary Monday of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing and has displaced more than 300,000.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that the government intends to make "visible" reconstruction progress and accelerate resettlement of those left homeless by streamlining legal and administrative procedures many blame for the delays.

"I pray that the peaceful lives of those affected can resume as soon as possible," Emperor Akihito said at a somber memorial service at Tokyo's National Theater.

At observances in Tokyo and in still barren towns along the northeastern coast, those gathered bowed their heads in a moment of silence marking the moment, at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, when the magnitude 9.0 earthquake — the strongest recorded in Japan's history — struck off the coast.

more...http://news.yahoo.com/recovery-slow-japan-marks-2-years-since-tsunami-062833461.html


Japan's cleanup lags from tsunami, nuke accident
NARAHA, Japan (AP) -- Two years after the triple calamities of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster ravaged Japan's northeastern Pacific coast, debris containing asbestos, lead, PCBs — and perhaps most worrying — radioactive waste due to the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant looms as a threat for the region.

So far, disposal of debris from the disasters is turning out to have been anything but clean. Workers often lacking property oversight, training or proper equipment have dumped contaminated waste with scant regard for regulations or safety, as organized crime has infiltrated the cleanup process.

Researchers are only beginning to analyze environmental samples for potential health implications from the various toxins swirled in the petri dish of the disaster zone — including dioxins, benzene, cadmium and organic waste-related, said Shoji F. Nakayama of the government-affiliated National Institute for Environmental Studies.

Apart from some inflammatory reactions to some substances in the dust and debris, the longer-term health risks remain unclear, he said.

more..http://news.yahoo.com/japans-cleanup-lags-tsunami-nuke-050556791.html

[marmar]

1. Considering how enormous an event this was......

...... there are precious few media updates on post-earthquake/tsunami life, at least from media on this side of the Pacific.

[AsahinaKimi]

3. I guess its a sort of

out of sight, out of mind, kind of thing. Unless you follow the Japanese on line news websites you would never know what's been going on.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/
http://www.japantoday.com/
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
http://ajw.asahi.com/
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/

[Art_from_Ark]

2. Reconstruction is a Herculean task

For example, it is said that the debris produced in Miyagi Prefecture on that one day, March 11, 2011, was the equivalent of 26 years worth of garbage for that prefecture. And that is not including the debris produced in the other coastal prefectures that were affected-- Aomori, Iwate, Fukushima, Ibaraki, and Chiba. Over 300,000 people were made homeless by the disasters, so building permanent dwellings for all of them will take a little while longer.

[AsahinaKimi]

4. About 60 percent of Fukushima evacuees cannot return home by 2017

Even six years after the 2011 nuclear accident, about 54,000 people, or about 60 percent of Fukushima residents forced to evacuate during the unfolding crisis, will still be unable to return home.

The figure was obtained by The Asahi Shimbun through interviews with municipal government officials as well as estimates made by the Reconstruction Agency.

After the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant following the March 11, 2011, Great East Japan Earthquake, an area within a 20-kilometer radius was designated a no-entry zone, while residents in areas outside of that circle were also instructed to evacuate in line with the spread of radioactive fallout. The decision was made in late 2011 to redesignate evacuation areas according to radiation levels.

Areas with annual radiation levels in excess of 50 millisieverts were designated as locations where residents could not return for at least five years from March 2011. Residents might be able to return within five years to areas where radiation levels were above 20 millisieverts and under 50 millisieverts and which have been designated as locations where living restrictions will apply. Areas where radiation levels were under 20 millisieverts were designated as locations where preparations can be made for lifting the evacuation order.

more..http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/recovery/AJ201303110005

[Art_from_Ark]

5. 20 millisieverts (per year)

is the equivalent of 2.28 microsieverts per hour, which is the measurement unit usually used in Japanese-language documents and research papers.

For comparison, the natural ambient radiation level in my part of Japan, 100 miles south of Dai-ichi, is considered to be 0.07 to 0.09 microsievert per hour.

The annual radiation dosage in Denver, Colorado is said to be 11.8 millisieverts.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

6. What has happened with the Fukushima reactors?

I haven't read anything about that in awhile.

[AsahinaKimi]

7. you may find some answers here

http://ajw.asahi.com/category/0311disaster/fukushima/

[UnrepentantLiberal]

8. Not a simple process...

Fukushima plant decommissioning may last until 2051

The Asahi Shimbun
March 11, 2013

In a monumental undertaking the likes of which has never been attempted, it could take up to four decades to complete the decommissioning and dismantling of the four damaged reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The entire process will be composed of three phases, according to the road map toward the decommissioning of the No. 1 to No. 4 reactors at the plant announced in December 2011 by the government and TEPCO. Phase 1 will last until the end of 2013, followed by Phase 2, which is likely to continue until around 2021. The third and final phase should conclude sometime between 2041 and 2051.

PHASE 1:

In Phase 1, the cooling water circulation loops will be curtailed step by step while cooling of nuclear fuel is continued. A method of establishing a closed and independent cooling system for each reactor building will be devised. Research and development efforts will be started for removing fuel and disposing of radioactive waste.

In addition to the fuel assemblies inside the reactors, totals of 392-1,533 assembly units are left in the spent fuel storage pools of the four reactor buildings. Full-scale operations to remove spent fuel from the No. 4 reactor will start in November 2013, one month earlier than initially scheduled.

More: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201303110084