The nuclear disaster at Fukushima

Apr 30

The recent tsunami and earthquake in Japan was already enough of a disaster with the death toll still rising and the huge scale damage which occurred. A new problem was uncovered in the aftermath though with the Fukushima nuclear power plant which was affected hugely by the flooding from the tsunami. A wide scale evacuation was needed for the safety of the local people due to the unstable situation at the nuclear plant.

The flooding caused by the tsunami damaged the Daiichi reactors and interrupted their cooling. The affected components led to radioactivity being released and the site being rendered unstable and possibly damaging to people in the local area. The US embassy recommended that a 50 mile area be evacuated however the Japanese government saw it only necessary to evacuate and create a 19 mile evacuation zone.

Originally around 70,000 people were evacuated but whilst people were advised not to enter the area, it wasn’t imposed by law. However now by law nobody must enter into a 12.5 mile zone surrounding the nuclear plant and the original evacuation zone of 19 miles still stands too. Some people were still returning home to check on their homes and to collect possessions despite the area being evacuated but this will no longer be an option.

Despite it being evacuated a number of families had decided to stay in the zone and so the military were still screening the area. The originally set perimeter was widened by ten kilometres and residents in the widened area were told to stay indoors as much as possible. People entering the zone could face a possible punishment of up to 30 days detention and a 730 fine.

The evacuees have been forced to stay in gyms and sports halls whilst they wait for the area to be declared safe once again. It is believed the people who have had to evacuate will be entitled to compensation for the disruption to their lives, however it is not certain where the compensation will come from.

Planet Hero