Three months after the most significant nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, Japan is still in a state of emergency. With cities lying in complete ruin, hundreds of thousands left homeless and many questions about the Fukushima Power Plant remaining unanswered, fear looms of what is yet to come. Although most of us have stopped talking about the nuclear threat half a world away, news of the Temco power plant seems to be turning more and more severe. Reports from the Japanese government still seem quite calm, contrary to those from elsewhere. So who are we supposed to believe? Also, why are there so many skewed statistics circulating around the globe? The differences in reports and opinions make it nearly impossible to decipher truth from fable.
In the five days after the largest earthquake in Japan’s history, the radiation emitted was already at 15% of Chernobyl’s total emissions. After this startling number was released along with many other statistics, citizens were fleeing from their homes to find safety. While over 100 000 people are still sleeping on gymnasium floors, Temco has yet to release more data. After much outrage and pressure from the public, a report is said to be due for release in August. In the mean time, the zones that have been labelled as uninhabitable are growing, while people are slowly migrating back to the homes that are all that they have left. Every day there is news that the situation is worse than previously thought, and suspicions are mounting that the Japanese government is concealing information. Record high measurements of radioactivity in Tokyo have been announced, as well as evidence of it wafting over the Pacific and leaving traces in North America.
In North America and Europe, the news is not being taken with the same level of composure. Germany has announced that they will shut down all of their reactors by 2022, and pressure to reassure citizens of safety precautions is being felt worldwide. Recent news that 4 of the 6 reactors have undergone a partial meltdown, one of which is rumoured to be a complete meltdown is not easing minds either. It seems that the disaster has almost completely dropped off of the mainstream media radar, but online chats, social networks, YouTube, and discussion boards are still buzzing with concern. A video was posted at the end of May of an “ear-less bunny” born near Fukushima; with over a million hits, the bunny is just another reminder of the implications of a nuclear disaster.
So are we getting worked up over nothing? Is the bunny just another mutation which could have happened anywhere in the world, or is this a nuclear accident so severe that it will rival Nagasaki and Hiroshima combined? If nothing else, this incident has reminded us of the long term effects of the Chernobyl accident, forcing us to wonder if we are making the right decisions as a society. True facts about the state of the power plant today are still a murky topic. We can only hope that closure will be given sooner than later.
Leave a Reply