Saturday, April 23, 2011

Japan Still Reeling from Earthquake Aftermath

Article first published as Japan Still Reeling from Earthquake Aftermath on Technorati.
 
 
Japan is overpopulated, lacks fuel resources and has a high demand for energy.
Nuclear energy seemed to be the answer to all their problems. Acquainted as the Japanese people are with earthquakes, they have built their nuclear plants to resist the most forceful earthquakes known to mankind.… until the earthquake of March 11th followed by the tsunami.

One month later, the fall out from the disaster is still being evaluated. Almost 28.000 people are dead or missing and approximately 135,000 people are homeless and staying in evacuee shelters.
The Japanese government plans to build 30.000 temporary homes by the end of May and an additional 70.000 homes will follow. To finance this, Japan wants to issue bonds to help pay for the disaster.
But only one day after legally enforcing an evacuation zone of 20 kilometers around the severely damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant, the evacuation zone is extended. So even more people will be homeless.
Residents of several towns northeast of the evacuation zone have been urgently requested to leave next month, because the expectation is that they otherwise will be exposed to a dose of radio activity that exceeds the annual safety dose. Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced this at a news conference and warned that the residents of several other towns also might be asked to evacuate in the near future.
The situation, as it is now, is that a huge area of Japan will be uninhabitable for the forseeable future and the radiation level of the severely damaged power plant is unpredictable. No form of energy is without risks or consequences but the Japanese people have paid the highest price conceivable.
 
Article first published as Japan Still Reeling from Earthquake Aftermath on Technorati.

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