This is the 6th part in my series looking back at the last year of life in Japan, post earthquake and tsunami, and post nuclear disaster. Click here to get to the 1st post.
The first thing that happened was the quake on March 11th, followed by the tsunami and nuclear accidents that lead to the venting of vast quantities of radioactive isotopes, followed by multiple explosions and meltdowns.
A total of more that 15,000 TBq (terra-becquerels) of radiation has been released, and the plants continue to chug out more, though at a much slower rate. Although a large percent of this went into the Pacific Ocean (which will surely have consequences over the years), dangerous amounts fell back to earth in Fukushima and several surrounding prefectures.
To the south and farther north there was some fallout, but the real danger spots lie immediately around the plants, mostly within a 20km radius, and then further out to the northwest. Especially the cities of Minami Soma, Iitate, and Kawamata were hit hard (and the majority of those places were evacuated eventually), but high levels have been found quite far away in Date, Fukushima City, and Koriyama.
That is all fact, and not open to dispute.
When media outlets refer to the reactors as being "crippled" or "damaged" they are being misleading. They suffered full-on meltdowns and explosions. This is the biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, period, and possibly one of the biggest ecological catastrophes in human history. IMO the Japanese government's stalling to give the order to evacuate some of the areas affected, as well as their dismissive attitude towards the health and safety of people in Fukushima is possibly criminal, if not just being a sign of complete incompetence.
On the other hand, however, overreaction in the "oh no, the world is ending!!!" category is just as bad. Never mind the absurd exaggeration of the plume headed over the Pacific that was going to kill everyone in the west coast of the US, all kinds of supposed experts wove doomsday stories, all to draw in viewers and sell ad space on their sites.
IMO these do just as much harm, because they blind people's eyes to the real danger, and then when gloom and doom don't happen and the reporters move on to the next disaster of the week, their subsequent ignoring of the continuing situation leads people to fall back into complacency.
When they shouldn't. Since Fukushima there have been nuclear incidents in several areas in the US, all with relatively no coverage and often unhelpful quoting of nuclear industry statistics. The nuclear disaster at Fukushima isn't over, either. Every day scores of workers risk their lives to keep the plants under control, and when that's taken care of the cleanup of the sites will go on for decades. What we need is helpful reporting from major media outlets and bloggers, and openness from the industry and government. Yes, I guess I'm a foolish optimist.
Anyway, I guess my point is that you have to be careful what you believe. If you don't understand a news topic about something that could have a real impact on you and your family, then learn about it.
Incidentally, around 13 years ago when I first came to Japan I went up to Fukushima. The mountains, hot springs and woods there are truly breathtaking. This picture was taken in Date City, one of the affected hotspots west of the plants. It is a beautiful area that I've been to many times, and the idea that many places like this may be uninhabitable for generations saddens me in a way I can't describe. Thinking of the people, as well as the cats and dogs abandoned when the evacuations started, the huge loss of animal life and uprooting of people is almost unbearable to think about, especially when you know the place so well and know how friendly people are there.
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