Post-disaster nuclear safety efforts continue
in Japan. On Sunday, May 22, Japanese Economics
Minister Kaoru Yosano stated that the government
may need to spend up to US$184 billion for
reconstruction efforts. However, funding could
be affected by the recent announcement of
a recession, with nearly 50% of the 24,000
businesses in the region being impacted, with
hundreds expected to close. The effect is
also being felt overseas, with British car
production currently slowed due to shortage
of parts. According to the Society of Motor
Manufacturers and Traders, UK car production
decreased by 12.2% in April. On Sunday, Japanese
Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Chinese Premier
Wen Jiabao and South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak met at a trilateral summit in Tokyo,
where China and South Korea pledged to help
Japan in recovery efforts. The three leaders
also agreed to establish an early warning
system to alert of any future nuclear emergencies,
and affirmed their joint commitment to limiting
nuclear energy dependency through alternative
energy and energy conservation measures.
Meanwhile, Fukushima Daiichi plant operator
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) posted
an annual net loss of US$15 billion, the largest
of any non-financial company in Japanese history,
resulting from the worst nuclear crisis in
25 years. Saying that he would take responsibility
for the accident, the utility’s head, Masataka
Shimizu, announced that he would step down.
On Saturday, plant officials revealed that
a leak of highly radioactive water from a
storage pit outside reactor No.3 resulted
in the seepage of 100 times the permissible
limit of radioactive materials into the Pacific
Ocean. On the same day, a “mega-float”
reservoir arrived. This structure can hold
10,000 tons of water and will be used to store
some of nearly 90,000 tons of highly radioactive
waste water accumulated at the reactor buildings.
On Monday, 400 protesters, many parents of
children attending schools around the nuclear
facility, arrived at Japan’s Education and
Science Ministry to submit a petition with
over 15,000 signatures calling for greater
nuclear safety for the young students. Following
the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the government
had raised the radiation exposure permissible
to 20 times higher than before the March 11
disaster. The petition urged for the safety
levels to be lowered to 1 millisievert per
year, as recommended by the International
Commission on Radiological Protection, while
also asking the ministry to do its utmost
to reduce radiation levels at the schools.
With thousands of residents still unable to
return to their homes within a 20-kilometer
radius of the nuclear plant due to dangerous
levels of radiation, at least 20 schools in
the region remain completely closed.
Our appreciation, Japanese, South Korean,
Chinese, and international governments, experts,
and individuals working toward a safer future.
We pray for the steady restoration of daily
regularity in Japan and that such disasters
may be averted by our more caring stewardship
of the planet�
