Reminiscing
the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
(Official translation: Umesh)
M
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arch 11, 2011. Time: 1446 hours. Sigeru Fuwatani, the
Ex-Deputy Mayor of Miharu City in Eastern Japan, was in Municipality Office
that day when suddenly he was alerted by an alarm message in his mobile—“Warning: Earthquake. Stay Alert and Careful!”
Obviously, Fuwatani got in dilemma about what to do
when it happened. In order to save
his life he sheltered himself underneath the table nearby. Glasses could be heard breaking into pieces. The Municipality employees panicking. “So is this it? Are we gonna make it alive?” Fuwatani wondered himself. The shock came to halt after a while. But this was just a beginning of what was yet to happen.
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| Tsunami after 9.0 M Earthquake in Japan |
“The 9.0 magnitude of earthquake was followed by
several aftershocks. The glasses of the office building were already shattered
into pieces. It was undoubtedly risky to stay any longer in there, so I asked
everyone to evacuate the building”, Fuwatani shared his experiences with the
journalists from different countries during the tour to the disaster-hit area of
Japan, “The situation called for Urgent Counter-measure Center (UCC). But since
the City Office Block was damaged by the earthwquake, we set up the UCC in the
Welfare-house and engaged right away in rescue operation. The chairmen and the
members from all seven administrative wards of Miharu City were involved in UCC
to coordinate the activities.”
Aftershocks were still active. At the same time, the
earthquake provoked Tsunami that could be seen live on TV. “Oh my God…! The
images from that day still haunt me. I can never forget it”, Fuwatani recounts,
“But we were lucky. Our structures were earthquake-resistant. Most of the infrastructures stood tall even
though several aftershocks of 5+ magnitudes were felt. No lives were lost.
Electricity supply remained intact. We are really proud of our outstanding
innovation and Japanese technology to withstand such a massive disaster.
April 25, 2015. In earth beneath Nepal began to
move—the 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal. Much anticipated but unprepared
for! About 8,900 lives were lost; 22,000 injured. In such a state of emergency,
the immediate rescue operations carried out by Japanese teams were exemplary.
After a month and a half of that disaster in Nepal, I
got the opportunity to attend the 9th World Conference of Science
Journalists, held in Seoul, South Korea, and we were in Fukushima, Japan on a
Post-conference Tour. Fuwatani recalls that day back in 2011, “The evacuation
places were immediately managed. Immediate actions were taken on the basis of
the information received by UCC with regards to the need for rescue. The
residents coordinated very well in that situation… The aftershocks were
residing slowly. But just as everything seemed to be going back to normal,
something disastrous happened. Sigh! The massive Tsunami caused damage to the
Fukushima 1 Nuclear Plant. The residents of Miharu City came to know of this
Nuclear Emergency Situation at 7 pm in the evening via KAN FM. The area within
the radius of 5km from Nuclear Plant was evacuated and the residents there were
directed to move for safety at Evacuation center.”
“The next day, on March 12, 2015 at 03:30 pm noon, the
hydrogen in the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Reactor building exploded. The evacuation
area was expanded to 20 km radius from the plant. More than 2000 people from
Okuma and Tomioka cities were accommodated in the public buildings. The plight
was such that thousands of people moving towards the safe zone resembled that
of the refugees trying to cross the border to get away from the war zone. As
the number of people displaced increased, it became extremely challenging for
the Municipality to manage the situation, and thus, the Municipality employees
from Okuma and Tomioka cities came in for help. We provided kitchen utensils
and food items for the people so that they could cook the food themselves to
eat. This helped a lot to keep everything under control,” Fuwatani reminisces.
Back in Nepal, for the first few days after
earthquake, the government was widely criticized for lagging in Search and
Rescue Operation. Even in Japanese context too, the people there use to
criticize the government for not being active in the rescue operation. “No
formal orders were issued by the State or the Prefecture government for
evacuation. Everything that was done post-earthquake was done with
self-motivation and responsiveness of the local residents,” Fuwatani continues,
“Even in such a situation of emergency, the government wasn’t there. The State
and the Prefecture governments didn’t take any concrete action in counter-measure
plan. It was obvious that the government lacked in sense of responsibility. The
adverse impacts of nuclear accident gradually spread out. This led to the
reduced supply of daily consumption goods. Shortage dawned on petroleum and
other basic goods.”
Distribution
of Iodine Tablets
Tomioka City decided to distribute Iodine tablets to
those who needed it at the Evacuation center. Thin action was taken as the
preventive measure against the possible health hazards that could result from
the nuclear accident. Still, the government remained dormant.
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| Fukushima Nuclear Reactor Explosion Source: Reuters |
On March 14, 2011 at 11 am, Edano, the Speaker of the
Government of Japan, appeared on a Live TV Press Conference, in which he was
trying to convince the people that everything was under control and there was
no fear of emergency. But during the conference, the explosion at Fukushima 3
Nuclear Reactor building made it to the breaking news, and Edano could be seen
literally shocked and taken aback hearing about the accident. This further led
to the trust of the people on the State and Prefecture governments to degrade. “We
didn’t wait for the state to wake up and come to us. We did what we could by
ourselves. We did our best to help and rescue the people in the affected city
areas. Where the higher level governments lost the faith of people, the local
government garnered their trust instead,” Fuwatani smiles.
“The Prefecture government didn’t release any information
following the nuclear plant explosion about the radiation area, and neither did
the media. People were in confusion. We felt like there was no government at
all in Japan.”
“Sakuma, a local resident, had bought a Radiation
Level Meter (RLM) after Chernobyl incident. The RLM showed the readings at
higher level than in other normal days. After receiving this critical
information, people were alerted to protect themselves from the effects of
radiation. All the residents were informed via Wireless Announcement System to
stay indoors, not to get wet in rain, to use masks… among other preventive
measures.”
“In order to protect against radiation, the Iodine
tablets brought in from the Prefecture Calamity Counter-measure Center were
distributed to 7,248 people from 3,303 households. The radiation level was
suspected to rise further on March 15. The wind started to flow from east to
west. It rained during the afternoon.”
“The Tsunami following the earthquake further added
the damages on the Nuclear Plant. After the explosion in Fukushima 4 Nuclear
Reactor building on March 15 in the morning at 6 am, the radiation level in the
Tokai village was recorded to be 100 times more than in other days. We
immediately decided to distribute the Iodine tablets to the city residents and
taught them the methods to use it. This worked very well without any
side-effects. It certainly feels good to help the people by taking right
decision, especially during the emergency situation.”
It has been four years since the explosion in the
Fukushima Nuclear Plant in 2011. The earthquake that hit Japan four years back
and the subsequent Tsunami not only staggered—literally—the world’s Nuclear
energy giant, but it also changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people
forever.
According to Fuwatani, more than 100,000 people were
evacuated from Fukushima Prefecture. Those people still are unable to return
back to their own home back there. “It is really upsetting for them to be
distanced from their homes and their families. They are sad, and they feel
weak.”
After the Nuclear accident, three out of four reactors
at Fukushima Daiichi Plant have exploded. The remaining one reactor didn’t
suffer any damage. Government of Japan
has assigned to the company called TEPCO the responsibility of decontaminating
the Ground Zero. According to TEPCO, it could take as long as three decades
before the affected area can get back to normal. The TEPCO employees are doing
their best to fulfill the responsibilities they are entrusted with. The
residents of the affected areas are going through hard times. But they still
hope to see the bright future ahead.
After such life-threatening and dangerous effects
following the nuclear accident and hundreds of lives lost to it, majority of
Japanese are beginning to speak openly against Nuclear Energy. But Government
of Japan says that there’s no any alternative to Nuclear Energy, at least not
anytime soon.
Four years have already passed since that nuclear
accident in 2011, but still the life hasn’t gotten back to normal. The fear
lingers among the people today. The cases of physical health problems
accompanied by psychological issues are on the rise. The people blame on the
State and the Prefecture government for not taking any effective action
regarding the post-disaster evacuation process, radiation level information,
radiation washing, and several other matters.
►So what about now? Has the situation come under
control after nuclear accident?◄
When questioned about this to Ex-Deputy Mayor Sigeru
Fuwatani, he says, “We still couldn’t live in total composure. But we still do
have the courage to live in our own place like we always did, and will continue
to do in endless future. We can never forget that incident after the
earthquake, and the tragedy it brought to us. No… Never!”
God Bless Japan. God Bless Nepal!!!
(Based on the conversation with Sigeru Fuwatani, Ex-Deputy Mayor, Miharu
City, Japan)
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