Japan tsunami two years on

Ceremonies have been held to mark the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the north-east of Honshu, Japan’s main island, two years ago, in which more than 18,000 people were left dead or missing.

Emperor Akihito praised the stoicism of survivors, saying how little they complained, but more and more people are expressing frustration at the slow pace of reconstruction, as tens of thousands have not been able to return to their homes.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has made regular visits to the regions affected, pledged to try to speed things up , but a fierce debate continues over the future of nuclear power in Japan.

After the quake damaged the Fukushima nuclear power station, Japan’s 50 reactors were shut down, and only two have been re-opened.  Mr Abe would like to get them running again, but on Sunday, thousands of people marched in Tokyo demanding an end to nuclear power.

(See also my blogs of 14 and 22 March, 1 April, 2011, and 5 Feb, 2012.)

Japan earthquake - nuclear fears

As reports come in of thousands of bodies being washed up on the north-eastern shore of Honshu – Japan’s main island – following the earthquake and tsunami, concern is now growing about the danger of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear power station.

Two reactors have been damaged by explosions, and a third has its cooling system out of action. The government is saying there is no cause for alarm, but more than 20 people are being treated for the effects of radiation, and tens of thousands have been evacuated, while the US military has pulled its people back from the area.

The decision to build nuclear power stations in an area so prone to earthquakes was heavily criticised. Atomic energy and secrecy tend to go hand in hand, so everyone is hoping the Japanese authorities are being more open than the Soviet apparatchiks at Chernobyl in 1986, where a ‘safety experiment’ produced the world’s worst nuclear accident.

At first they tried to hush the whole thing up, and it was only when a Swedish monitoring station detected unusual levels of radiation that the Russians began to admit the truth. Twenty-five years after the explosion, people are still dying from its effects, and some estimates put the number of additional cancers that it will cause as high as 200,000.

* Yesterday I was interviewed about the earthquake on BBC Radio Berkshire. This is the link:- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_tLViNtSlU