via Japan Times / March 15, 2016 / A private high school in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, will close for good at the end of March because the nuclear disaster has decimated enrollment, school officials said. Shoei High School, founded in 1957, will be the first in the prefecture to close its doors permanently since the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant began unfolding on March 11, 2011. Although … Continue reading →
Continue readingTag Archives: evacuation zone
via Zero Hedge / Today (March 11, 2016), Japan marks the fifth anniversary of the tragic and catastrophic meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear plant. On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the northeast coast of Japan, killing 20,000 people. Another 160,000 then fled the radiation in Fukushima. It was the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, and according to some it would be far worse, if the … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Rachel Mealey via abc.net.au / March 7, 2016 / The town of Futaba lies six kilometres from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. There is an eerie feeling there. Shoes sit in the doorway of houses, as they do in houses across Japan — neatly placed together, waiting for feet to walk them out the door. Bicycles rest against fences — waiting for the next journey. The magnitude 9.0 earthquake … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Makoto Takada / Asahi Shimbun / September 24, 2015 / Local government officials, evacuees and students are saving personal documents and other historical materials from destruction in a municipality rendered a virtual “ghost town” by the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The Tomioka town government, which now operates from Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, has asked residents for help in the preservation project, saying materials kept at a museum alone cannot show … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Youtube / September 24, 2015 / This documentary on the Fukushima Art Project chronicles artist Ai Weiwei’s investigation of the site as well as the project’s installation process. In August 2014, Ai Weiwei was invited as one of the participating artists to originate artwork for the Fukushima Nuclear Zone by the Japanese art coalition Chim↑Pom， as part of the project they initiated called Don’t Follow the Wind . Ai … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia rte.ie / September 5, 2015 / The Japanese government has lifted the evacuation order for the first town near the crippled Fukushima reactors, more than four years after ordering mass relocations near the tsunami-wrecked nuclear plant. Among communities where the entire population was forced to evacuate after the nuclear crisis started in March 2011, Naraha is the first town to allow all of its residents to return home permanently. It … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia DW / July 21st, 2015 / In a bid seen by critics as aiming to speed up reconstruction, the Japanese government is preparing to declare sections of the evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant a safe place to live. The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe intends to revoke many evacuation orders by March 2017, if decontamination progresses as hoped, meaning that up to 55,000 … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Telegraph.co.uk / July 8th, 2015 / The government announces September 5 as the date 7,401 residents of Naraha town in Fukushima prefecture can return home for the first time since the 2011 nuclear disaster. More than 7,000 residents from a Fukushima town completely evacuated following the 2011 nuclear crisis will be able to return home permanently from September, the Japanese government has announced. The 7,401 residents of Naraha will … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Robert Hunziker / ukprogressive.co.uk / July 8, 2015 / Because of Japan’s unconscionable open-ended new secrecy law, it is very likely journalism in the nation has turned tail, scared of its own shadow. Nevertheless, glimmers of what has happened, of what is happening, do surface when brave people come forward. On May 22nd 2015 Hiromichi Ugaya, a photojournalist who is well-informed, insightful, and engaging, was interviewed about what he … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Kunio Kobinata / the-japan-news.com / June 29, 2015 / In the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, much remains unknown about the long-term health effects of the radioactive substances released. Seeking answers, Tohoku University Prof. Manabu Fukumoto has been examining the blood and other factors of slaughtered cattle and wild animals caught by hunters mainly within a 20-kilometer radius of the plant. Over … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Akira Hino / CNIC.jp / June 2, 2015 / 1. Current State of Fukushima Prefecture Four years have passed since the earthquake and nuclear accident, but almost no progress has been made toward Fukushima Prefecture’s recovery. In particular, the recovery of the Futaba area and its vicinity has just gotten underway. The reason for this delay in recovery has been radioactive contamination resulting from the nuclear accident. The radioactive … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia reuters.com / May 29, 2015 / Japan’s ruling coalition will recommend lifting evacuation orders for most people forced from their homes by the Fukushima nuclear disaster within two years in a bid to speed up reconstruction, a draft proposal shows. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s party and its governing partner will also press local governments in the disaster zone to shoulder more of the reconstruction spending now being borne by … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Times / April 5, 2015 / The central government has not been able to identify half of some 2,400 owners of land in Fukushima Prefecture where it plans to build storage facilities for contaminated soil from the nuclear crisis, sources said. The government intends to build the complex on around 16 sq. km of land in the towns of Okuma and Futaba that is designated as uninhabitable due … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Julie Makinen / via latimes.com / March 11, 2015 / Neon pink and yellow banners flutter along the roadsides, their gentle flapping breaking an eerie stillness. The houses here are shut tight, the streets are nearly deserted, the fields that once sprouted rice, tomatoes and cucumbers are fallow. Shigeo Karimata dons a hard hat and a mask and prepares to get out of his car. “Some people say, ‘Oh, … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia channelnewsasia.com / March 11, 2014 / Muneo Kanno left his village to avoid radiation contamination after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan four years ago. But that has not stopped the evacuee from making daily trips back home. The 64-year-old farmer is on a mission to reclaim the village he called home for most of his life and he has started a number of projects to achieve this … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia asahi.com / March 4, 2015 / Around 71 percent of Fukushima Prefecture residents remain dissatisfied with the central government’s handling of the nuclear disaster four years after the triple meltdown forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes, a survey showed. Only 14 percent of respondents were satisfied with the central government’s efforts at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to the telephone survey conducted jointly … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Asahi Shimbun / February 1, 2015 / A 24-hour convenience store has reopened in this small town, even though the former residents are still not allowed to stay overnight due to concerns over radioactive contamination. FamilyMart’s Kamishigeoka outlet servicing the community of Naraha resumed operation on Jan. 30. The store was forced to close on March 12, 2011, as the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia japantimes.com / November 4, 2014 / The Lower House on Tuesday approved a bill for the construction of temporary storage facilities for radioactive waste on land near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. The bill is expected to be enacted during the current extraordinary session of the Diet following debate in the Upper House. The bill calls on the government to ensure the safety of the facilities and … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Taiga Uranaka and Antoni Slodkowski / trust.org / October 31, 2014 / Thirty billion dollars in funding for roads, bridges and thousands of new homes in areas devastated by the tsunami in Japan three and a half years ago is still languishing unspent in the bank. That means Keiko Abe is heading into a fourth winter of sub-zero temperatures in a cramped, temporary dwelling that is succumbing to the … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia japantimes.com / October 29, 2014 / Radioactive soil currently stored at schools in Fukushima Prefecture is not supposed to be transferred to radioactive waste storage facilities planned to be built near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Jiji Press learned Tuesday. This is because decontamination at schools was carried out before a special law on radioactive contamination took effect in January 2012 and thus the Environment Ministry … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Today / October 2, 2014 / The government on Wednesday lifted its evacuation advisory for part of the town of Kawauchi which lies within 20 kilometers of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Environment Ministry officials said that radiation cleanup has concluded in the eastern part of the town, NTV reported. Prior to the March 11, 2011 nuclear disaster, Kawauchi’s population was 3,000. The Environment Ministry has … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Asahi Shimbun / August 9th, 2014 / The central government has offered to double the amount of grants to be paid if local municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture accept the construction of temporary storage facilities for radioactive debris produced by the 2011 nuclear accident. In talks Aug. 8 with Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato and the mayors of Okuma and Futaba towns in the prefectural city of Koriyama, Environment Minister Nobuteru … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia NHK World / August 8, 2014 / The Japanese government plans to provide a subsidy of about three billion dollars over 30 years for regional development in Fukushima Prefecture. The grant is to be offered when local communities agree to build temporary storage facilities for highly radioactive waste. Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara (pictured) and Reconstruction Minister Takumi Nemoto will explain on Friday the grant for the local governments to … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia thediplomat.com / August 1st, 2014 / Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has taken yet another hit this week, as a judicial panel has decided to request the indictment of three of its executives over the handling of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster. While a previous indictment was dismissed, new charges are being pursued, mainly at the request of residents in affected areas in Fukushima. Additionally, there are … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Clint Richards / The Diplomat / July 30, 2014 / After months of attempting to negotiate with local residents in Fukushima, the Japanese government has abandoned its attempt to purchase land to store nuclear waste from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi reactors. Storing nuclear waste and preventing groundwater from entering the disaster site continue to be persistent problems for the government, with no clear solution. This inability is a key … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Times / April 27, 2014 / Residents of the 20-km hot zone around the meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant have been allowed to stay overnight at their homes after progress with decontamination. Previously, the residents from the village of Kawauchi Village, Fukushima Prefecture (pictured), were allowed to spend only the day inside the evacuation zone. The change means the residents will be free to spend entire days … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / April 21, 2014 / Katsutaka Idogawa, former mayor of Futaba, a town near the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant, is warning his country that radiation contamination is affecting Japan’s greatest treasure – its children. Asked about government plans to relocate the people of Futaba to the city of Iwaki, inside the Fukushima prefecture, Idogawa criticized the move as a “violation of human rights.” Compared with Chernobyl, radiation levels … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Ria Novosti / April 18, 2014 / Radiation levels in the areas surrounding the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant have dropped, but still exceed the long-term target of the Japanese government, according to a report issued by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Friday. The report, quoted by the Asahi Shumbun daily newspaper, says that Fukushima evacuees will receive radiation doses from 0.7 to 3 millisieverts per … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Shinichi Sekine and Miki Aoki / Asahi Shimbun / April 16, 2014 / The Japanese government withheld findings on estimated radiation exposure for Fukushima returnees for six months, even though levels exceeded the long-term target of 1 millisievert a year at more than half of surveyed locations. Individual radiation doses were estimated to be beyond 1 millisievert per year, or 0.23 microsievert an hour, at 24 of all the … Continue reading →
Continue readingKyle Cleveland Temple University Japan Abstract The nuclear disaster in Fukushima which followed in the wake of the 3/11 Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami has been one of the most significant public health crises in modern history, with profound implications for how nuclear energy is perceived. This paper analyzes the nature of risk assessment in the nuclear crisis, examining how the Japanese government and its constituent institutions in the nuclear industry, foreign governments … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Patrick J. Kiger / National Geographic / April 2, 2014 / For the first time since Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power disaster three years ago, residents of a small portion of the surrounding restricted area are being allowed to return home, even though radiation levels remain elevated At midnight on March 31, the Japanese government officially lifted an evacuation order for a portion of the Miyakoji district of Tamura, … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Zero Hedge / March 31, 2014 / As reported last night, Japan’s economy may once again be relapsing into a slowing phase, perversely well in advance of the dreaded sales-tax hike which many expect will catalyze Japan’s collapse into another recession as happened the last time Japan had a tax hike, but that doesn’t mean its population should be prevented from enjoying the heavily energized local atmosphere buzzing with … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Graham Land / Asian Correspondent / March 11, 2014 / Three years on and the extent of the environmental, human and economic repercussions of the Fukushima incident continue to reveal themselves. Fukushima “fallout” is both literal in terms of radioactive materials, and figurative on a global scale. The politics and opinions around the nuclear issue are far from settled. In Japan anti-nuclear sentiment runs high, with protesters recently marking … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia greenpeace.org / It is now three years since the Fukushima nuclear disaster began in March 2011. Here are the stories of five of the victims who have struggled over these three long years to rebuild their lives. Like tens of thousands forced to flee the second biggest release of radioactive particles in history, they have been ignored and abandoned by their government and TEPCO, owner of the disaster site. … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Matthew Carney / ABC.net.au / March 11, 2014 / A nuclear industry insider has told the ABC that the situation at the stricken Fukushima reactor is still not under control, three years after the disaster there. Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe has announced he wants 30,000 residents to return to their homes and the reactors to be switched back on within two years. But a Fukushima insider and two … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Daily Kos / February 26, 2014 / The Asahi Shimbun reported Tuesday that the mud in 468 reservoirs outside of the Fukushima evacuation zone contain levels of cesium high enough to be designated waste that must be removed. The mud in the Myotoishi reservoir, 55 kilometers west of the stricken Fukushima plant, had a cesium level of 370,000 becquerels per kilogram, a level the newspaper described as “mind boggling”. … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Daily Press / February 6, 2014 / As one possible solution to the ongoing problem of disposing contaminated waste as a result of the nuclear meltdown in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato is proposing that some of the radioactive soil be stored in two towns where the radiation levels are still too high. He informed Okuma Mayor Toshitsuna Watanabe and Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Hindu / January 2, 2014 / Post-tsunami reconstruction and radiation cleanup could take 10 years, but officials say something has been permanently lost Nearly three years after a major earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation leak devastated coastal and inland areas of Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, 280 km northeast of Tokyo, Namie (pictured left) has become a silent town of ghosts and absent lives. Namie’s 21,000 residents remain evacuated because … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia EX-SKF / Sep 23, 2013 / As Japan celebrates “recovery” (at least in the stock market), 2020 Tokyo Olympic, maglev bullet train that will run under Japan Alps, there are still 100 people from Futaba-machi, Fukushima still living in the abandoned high school building in Saitama Prefecture, more than two and a half years after the earthquake and tsunami and the nuclear accident struck Tohoku and Kanto. Time has … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia NHK World / Sep 11, 2013 / More than 215,000 people are still living away from home in 3 Japanese prefectures 2-and-a-half years after the March 11 disaster. On this day 30 months ago, a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan. The National Police Agency says 15,883 people are confirmed to have died in the disaster and 2,654 remain unaccounted for. The Reconstruction Agency says 2,688 people fell … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia world-nuclear-news.org / August 8th, 2013 / Preparations can begin for residents to return to the town of Kawamata near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The town was the final evacuated municipality to be redesignated. Separate from the evacuation area defined by a 20 kilometre radius from Fukushima Daiichi, the area near Kawamata was evacuated once it was known that radioactive particles had been carried by the wind … Continue reading →
Continue reading