The Japanese
minister Goshi Hosono announced today that
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and
the government have successfully completed
phase 1 of the plan to bring the Fukushima
nuclear crisis under control. Unfortunately,
it seems we are witnessing another wishy-washy
spin, while the urgently needed actions
to protect citizens are not happening..
The Fukushima nuclear
crisis is not under control. TEPCO and the
government have failed to meet several of
its own objectives by rushing to meet deadlines
and give the impression of normality instead
of accepting that this nuclear crisis will
take decades to resolve. For example, see
the ongoing problems with stabilising the
reactors at Fukushima, continued leaks of
contaminated water and failures of its clean
up system. Even worse is the delivery against
another objective - proper radiation measurement
and transparency - where the action so far
is completely inadequate, as we can most
recently see at the contaminated cattle
scandal.
Similarly, official
measurement data suggests some leakages
of contaminated water into both the ocean
and ground that have been unreported by
TEPCO, and thus the problem is larger than
previously thought. Thus underlines the
key problem, which is that while some isolated
data are being published from some radiation
monitoring posts, the public does not have
a full picture at all about the levels of
contamination of land and ocean, what are
its risks and implications, and how people
can reduce exposure.
Nothing is getting back
to normal anytime soon. While TEPCO and
the government are trying to tell us that
things are or will be getting back to normal
within a few months, the sad truth is that
it will be decades before the reactors are
dismantled, the deadly nuclear material
inside them removed and properly stored,
and the widely-spread radioactive contamination
dissipates.
People continue to live
in seriously contaminated places, such as
Fukushima city, without proper information,
support or advice. Turning a blind eye on
this ticking bomb and insisting, against
science and internationally accepted principles
of radiological protection, that low levels
of radiation are harmless is unjustifiable.
Much more immediate
action from TEPCO and the government is
needed. This includes stopping contaminated
water from the damaged reactors leaking
into both the ocean and soil. Full disclosure
about leakages of contaminated water is
urgently required, particularly in relation
to the vital protection of people’s health
and lives.
The Japanese government
must focus on ensuring that people are properly
protected from increased levels of radiation
in contaminated areas, even in places lying
well beyond current evacuation zones. People
need to be given clear information and proper
support to allow them either to evacuate
or limit their exposure to radiation.
Sufficient and robust
plans to deal with long term exposure to
radiation and contamination from Fukushima
are missing. Families with children or pregnant
women need to be moved to safer places.
Widespread, systematic and transparent farm
produce and seafood monitoring must be set
in motion to avoid further exposure from
contaminated food, even in areas that seem
far from the Fukushima reactors.
Until those measures
are securely in place, any talk about satisfactory
progress in containing the disaster is just
an empty and misleading PR exercise.
