3/11 disaster still exacting a heavy toll on schools in Tohoku region

As reported by the Asahi Shimbun:

...Destruction due to the tsunami generated by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and unlivable conditions created by the related accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant caused an outflow of job opportunities, which accelerated dwindling population problems that cities and towns in the region had already been facing. The phenomenon could result in a shortage of manpower for reconstruction efforts in the future.

...In 15 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture, where evacuation orders were issued, the number of children will drop by 29 percent to 37,122 from the 2010 level.

The town of Namie, which had its evacuation order partially lifted on March 31, had 1,800 children enrolled in six elementary and three junior high schools before the quake. Of them, three town-run schools which were relocated to another town within the prefecture, will have a total of 13 students this April.

As attendance at elementary and junior high school nationwide usually decreases by around 1 percent each year, according to the basic survey of schools by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the decrease due to the disasters is quite significant.

Tepco's Fukushima: the most expensive industrial accident in history

As reported by Shaun Burnie in Asia Times, in an article entitled "Fukushima Bill: Six Years after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, Toshiba and Westinghouse join Tokyo Electric Power in a Fight for Survival."

The article reports:

In November 2016, the Japanese Government announced a revised estimate for the Fukushima nuclear accident (decommissioning, decontamination, waste management and compensation) of ¥21.5 trillion (US$193 billion) – a doubling of their estimate in 2013.

But the credibility of the government’s numbers have been questioned all along, given that the actual ‘decommissioning’ of the Fukushima plant and its three melted reactors is entering into an engineering unkown.

This questioning was borne out by the November doubling of cost estimates after only several years into the accident, when there is every prospect Tepco will be cleaning up Fukushima well into next century.

And sure enough, a new assessment published in early March from the Japan Institute for Economic Research, estimates that total costs for decommissioning, decontamination and compensation as a result of the Fukushima atomic disaster could range between ¥50-70 trillion (US$449-628 billion). (emphasis added)

Shaun Burnie is a senior nuclear specialist with Greenpeace Germany, Tokyo. He has worked on nuclear issues worldwide for more than three decades, including since 1991 on Japan’s nuclear policy.

Update on April 1, 2017 by admin

The Japan Times also reported on the recent cost estimate of more than $600 billion to recover from the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. Across several major categories, the Japan Center for Economic Research (JCER) cost estimates for recovery from the radioactive catastrophe greatly exceeded the Japanese government's cost estimates. This added up, overall, to a tripling of cost estimates, above and beyond the government's own.

Japanese Government and Utility Are Found Negligent in Nuclear Disaster

As reported by Motoko Rich in the New York Times. The article begins:

TOKYO — The Japanese government and the electric utility that operated the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were negligent in not preventing the meltdowns in 2011 that forced thousands of people to flee the area, a district court in eastern Japan ruled on Friday.

It was the first time that a court determined that both the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, and the government bore responsibility for the nuclear disaster that followed a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The decision could influence dozens of similar lawsuits filed by close to 12,000 evacuated residents now living across the country.

More.

As Fukushima nuclear catastrophe enters 7th year, please take action by signing petitions and spreading the word!

March 11, 2017 marked six years since the beginning of the ongoing Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe. Please take action. Consider signing the following two petitions being circulated by friends and colleagues: Greenpeace International's "Stand in solidarity: Defend the human rights of Fukushima survivors"; and Fukushima Fallout Awareness Network's "No Olympics or Paralympics in Radioactive Fukushima." Learn more about the latest at Fukushima at Beyond Nuclear's Japan website section. 

Beyond Nuclear on Sojourner Truth Radio: Six Years Later, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster's Impact Continues

Beyond Nuclear was interviewed by Margaret Prescod on Sojourner Truth Radio on Pacifica. Here is the show summary:

Today, we commemorate Saturday's 6th anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. The disaster was triggered by an 9.0 earthquake followed by a tsunami. Contamination from the accident spread across the Pacific Ocean. Now the Japanese government is set to lift evacuation orders for the area surrounding Fukushima. Our guests are Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog at Beyond Nuclear, and Arnie Gunderson, nuclear power expert with Fairewinds.

Here is the link to the audio recording.