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Raquel Fors Grammar research paper On March 11, 2011, a 9.

0 magnitude earthquake struck the north-eastern area of Honshu, Japan at 2:46 p.m., local time.2 The earthquake was followed by hundreds of aftershocks and a tsunami, the highest point of which was 37.88 meters in Miyako Prefecture.2 The Great Tohoku Earthquake took place along a fault underneath the Pacific Ocean eighty miles east of Sendai, Japan, or 231 miles northeast of Tokyo, Japan.2 Sendai was hit hardest by the earthquake. The earthquake had resulted from thrust faulting near the subduction zone boundary between the Pacific and North American plates.2 While astonishingly powerful, it did little damage compared to the resulting tsunami. At least 25,000 people were killed;12 5,314 injured; 130, 927 displaced by the tsunami, and at least 4,647 people were declared missing.2 The earthquake and tsunami also damaged or destroyed at least 332,395 buildings, 2,126 roads, 56 bridges, and 26 railways along the entire east coast of Honshu from Chiba to Aomori.2 Fires started in Chiba and Miyagi, eighteen thousand houses were destroyed when a dam in Fukushima failed, and landslides occurred in Miyagi.2 The total economic loss was estimated at about 309 billion U.S. dollars, making it the most expensive natural disaster in history.9 After the earthquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued warnings for Russia, Taiwan, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and the west coasts of the U.S., Mexico, Central America, and South America. The tsunami itself was so large that it caused some massive slabs of ice to calve from the Sulzberger Ice Shelf, [in] Antarctica.2 It also damaged four nuclear facilities, the Tokai, the Higashi Dori, the Onagawa, and most dramatically the Fukushima Daiichi plant. When the tsunami washed over the walls built to protect the Fukushima Daiichi plant, it damaged the cooling systems of three of the plants six reactors, resulting in a hydrogen build-up and the later explosions.15 The wall was designed only to withstand waves up to 5.7 meters high; the largest waves there are estimated to have been at least 14 meters high.5 This was followed by an explosion and eventual partial meltdowns in two reactors, then by a fire in another reactor which released radio-activity directly into the atmosphere.3 A blackout then caused a loss of control on four of the reactors, and severely hampered communications systems. At 7:03 p.m. that same day (March 11), Japanese Prime Minister Kan declared a nuclear emergency and ordered people within 3 kilometers of the plant to evacuate (later expanded to 80,000 people); however, hed also promised that there wouldnt be a leak,9 which happened anyway. Helicopters and military fire engines showered the plant with seawater to put out the fires. This was evidently a desperate measure, because a multibillion-dollar reactor that has been bathed in saltwater can never be used again.9 This resulted in millions of gallons of radioactive water being released back into the ocean. However, it was more effective than any other measure to avert a far worse disaster.9 There had been efforts to open a vent to release steam so as to cool the over-heated reactors, but these were only partially successful. Building No. 1 exploded at

3:36 p.m. the next day; two days after that, Reactor No. 3 exploded, and the day after that, Reactor No. 4 exploded.9 One man also became sick from radiation poisoning.9 On March 16, the N.R.C. predicted that there would be no danger beyond fifty miles from the plant. Japanese authorities had ordered people within eighteen miles to evacuate or stay indoors, but the U.S. State Department warned U.S. citizens to stay at least fifty miles from the plant and to defer travel to Japan.9 This warning remained in effect for five months. On April 12, Japan raised its assessment of the plant to Level 7, defined by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association) as involving wide-spread health and environmental effects and the external release of a significant fraction of the reactor core inventory.3 The disaster was ranked comparable to the Chernobyl explosion in 1986. That same month, the Japanese government announced protective actions to reduce the external exposure to the population beyond a distance of thirty kilometers from the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Plant.4 The evacuation of those people commenced on May 15. The government then ordered daily monitoring of the deposition of cesium and iodine radionuclides for forty-seven prefectures. Food began to be monitored and restricted. Eight hundred eighteen samples were gathered in eighteen different prefectures in and around Fukushima for monitoring. Seven hundred sixty-six (over ninety-three percent) of those samples were considered clean; the other fifty-two were above regulation values for radioactive cesium and iodine.4 In Fukushima Prefecture, restrictions were placed on bamboo shoots (later lifted), unprocessed milk, turnips, ostrich fern, sand lance fish, non-head type (e.g., turnip) and headtype (e.g., spinach) leafy vegetables, flower head brassicas (e.g., broccoli and cauliflower), and shiitake mushrooms.4 The FDA is has been closely monitoring imported food products for radiation contamination. A team of experts from the IAEA and TEPCO (the Tokyo Electric Power Company) began a fact-finding mission from 24 May to 1 June, 2011.5 On May 31, the gamma dose rate for Fukushima Prefecture and the other forty-six prefectures was reported to be on a declining trend.4 However, TEPCO reported levels of iodine-131 at five million times the legal amount in seawater near the plant, and over one million times the legal amount of cesium-137.11 Elevated concentrations of radioactive cesium and iodine were found in small fish and seawater twenty-five miles off-shore.7, 11 This is concerning because radioactive particles can be absorbed by seaweed and plankton, and can then affect animals of all sections of the food chain.11 In response to the high radionuclide concentration in the marine soil in the port area before the intake canals for Units 1-4, 5, and 6, plans were made by TEPCO to deploy a mixture of bentonite and cement as covering material for the marine soil to prevent contamination from spreading to other areas due to currents and waves.6 The covering will be installed as two layers over a total surface area of approximately seventy thousand square meters. A test construction was going to take place in February 2012, with the actual project beginning three to four months after.6

Additionally, the government of Fukushima Prefecture launched a thirty-year program to monitor the health of those exposed to radiation.7 To date, no health effects have been reported as a result of radiation exposure from the nuclear accident, and the American Nuclear Society says that off-site health consequences of the Fukushima-Daiichi accident may be negligible.5, 12 Scientists in Japan started outfitting local wild monkeys with dosimeter collars to measure radiation levels in the evacuation zones,7, 8 because the impact on the environment was initially difficult to pinpoint. This was partly because the Japanese government, fearing a panic, didnt disclose the direction in which winds would carry the radio-active particles released into the atmosphere.9 This unfortunately resulted in some evacuees running into the plume. When a map of the fallout was finally released, it was revealed that the village of Iitate had some of the heaviest concentrations. Villagers were officially ordered to evacuate at the end of May. The villagers killed all their cattle to save them from further radiation poisoning, and set up a patrol around the village to guard against looters.9 The Japanese government said, five months after the earthquake, that areas within three kilometers of the plant (the original evacuation zone) will likely be uninhabitable for decades.9 In May 2011, the government raised the limits on exposure for the general public in order to keep more schools open in Fukushima.9 This made people feel unsafe and suspicious. In response, parents protested at the headquarters of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. A week later, the government reinstated the old limits. Protests also began to be held for the abandonment of nuclear power. The nuclear disaster made many people in Japan and around the world lose confidence in nuclear power. Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland have all made to plans to either stop building new plants or to remove nuclear power in their respective countries altogether.9 However, nuclear factory owners in Japan warned that because Japan gets some twenty percent of its power from nuclear energy, closing the nuclear plants would cause power cuts, and an economic recession.9 After Prime Minister Kan resigned, his successor Yoshihiko Noda encouraged communities to allow plants to restart. A consensus amongst Japanese politicians was that, at most, the country would close its oldest plants, but the rest would endure.9 The government then ordered stress tests to be performed for the reactors across Japan and restored the promotion of renewable resources. After the meltdown, and the governments uncertain handling of it, the Japanese people became distrustful of their government. People from Fukushima were afraid that being from Fukushima might become a stigma, just as being from Hiroshima was for survivors of the atomic bomb.9 One man, Yusuke Tataki, said, The government wont tell people to evacuate, because then it would have to compensate everyone.9 There had also been a poll in late May which showed that more than eighty percent of the population did not believe the governments information about the nuclear crisis.9 People in places that had been declared safe were considering leaving.

However, the Japanese people were not alone. The international community responded immediately to help those affected by the earthquake and tsunami. The United States had called in 100,000 troops to aid in the relief effort of Japan.3 There was wide-spread media attention, and many people held fundraisers and donated money to the Red Cross to go to those devastated by the earthquake and tsunami. Support was gathered especially through the internet. One popular YouTube vlogger named Ryan Higa posted a video called Honk For Japan! in which he held a sign that asked drivers to honk if you love Japan.13 With every honk, he added ten dollars to his donation to the Red Cross, and with every one million views that the video gets he donates another six hundred dollars.13 By January 4, 2012, he had donated 6, 475 dollars. By Friday March 9, 2012, the Red Cross had raised more than 4 billion dollars for Japan.10 The Mercy Corps is helping the Japanese people in four cities that were damaged to rebuild, and is helping jump-start the local economies by working with fishermen, small business owners, and local merchants.10 Habitat for Humanity has been working to send volunteers to Iwate and Miyagi prefectures to help families rebuild their lives. Architecture for Humanity is working on reconstructing the region where the earthquake and tsunami hit. On March 8, 2012, the American television station TLC aired a special to commemorate the anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami.14 While the Tohoku earthquake did trigger an unprecedented amount of secondary disasters and complications, and undoubtedly left a scar in the hearts of millions of people, recovery is progressing. With the help of charities and volunteers, the people affected by the earthquake and its related devastations have begun to rebuild their lives, homes, and businesses. The supporters and engineers of nuclear energy must apply the lessons learned from the nuclear meltdown at Fukushima to reduce the likelihood of another similar accident in Japan and elsewhere. The Japanese government, as well, should take responsibility for the lives that are or will be affected by the radioactivity released due to the meltdown. Overall, however, the future of Japan is hopeful.

References: 1.) www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/11/japan-earthquake-tsunami_n_834380.html

2.) earthquake.usgs.govearthquakes/equinthenews/2011/usc001xgp/#summary

3.) www.infoplease.com/science/weath/japan-tsunami-2011.html

4.) www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html

5.) www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/fukushima/missionsummary010611.pdf

6.) www.iaea.org/newscenter/fucus/fukushima/statusreport230212.pdf

7.) www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/science/Fukushima-DaiichiMeltdown.html

8.) articles.cnn.com/2011-12-14/asia/world_asia_japan-nuclear-monkeys_1_fukushimadaiichi-plant-wild-monkeys-wil-animals?_s=PM:ASIA

9.) www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/17/11017fa_fact_osnos?currentPage=all

10.)

news.yahoo.com/japan-tsunami-anniversaryhow-to-help.html

11.) e360.yale.edu/feature/radioactivity_in_the_ocean_diluted_but_far_from_harmless /2391/

12.) www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-09/negligible-health-effects-found-fromfukushima-meltdown.html 13.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cciUXpITsu0&feature=plcp&context=C40899 8eVDvjVQa1PpcFPqVy1QrIUnuc60CYjcBb55lrXlIJg83wY%3D 14.) http://www.examiner.com/article/tlc-announces-tv-special-to-commemorateanniversary-of-japan-tsunami

15.) http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/at-two-reactors-a-race-tocontain-meltdowns/2011/03/13/ABtdVDU_story.html

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