More than a month have passed after the devastating earthquake hit (followed by outraging tsunamis) the Tohoku region of Japan, triggering the hazardous accident at the TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) Daiichi nuclear power plant - generally referred to as Fukushima or Daiichi.
The latter causing to a general negligence of thousands of dead or still missing people, if they have not been so lucky to be rescued and now enduring the rather unbearable conditions of their evacuation center. Their singular tragodies rest hidden behind a veil of uncertainties, raising worldwide questions, such as:
What and how much radioactivity is emitted into the air, the sea, the region around the plant?
How far has the lethal substance already gone?
Can we take the risk of drinking the local water, eating fish or food coming from Fukushima Prefecture?
Who is to be hold responsible for the magnitude of the disaster?
What kind of compensation measures will be undertaken?
How will Japan guarantee energy security in the future?
And how safe are our relatives and friends overseas regarding the threatening products imported from Japan?
From a national point of view however, the prevailing concerns overseas are currently blurred by multiple questions, amongst them:
What will become out of Japan's energy policy in the future?
Is it reasonable to leave the area around Fukshima when thus being separated from my children and/or my husband?
How will the region recover in terms of economy from the aftermath of the accident?
Should we not first and foremost buy the products coming from Fukushima since they have been declared to be safe?
When will the stores be thouroughly lit again?
And does the world know, what and where Fukushima is???
Namely the last question gives evidence to the diverse perspective on the ongoing crisis that effected the daily life of the Japanese population. Accordingly, the concerns and the every day action differ tremendously among those working and living in Japan and those abroad. The above listed questions likewise prove the exhausting amount of uncertainties when it comes to the future of nuclears in Japan just as much as elsewhere.
Thus, with nuCLEARfukushima I seek to shed light on various aspects of the nuclear accident, ranging from the disaster management over reactions (nationwide and worldwide), and eventually the future of Japan's energy policy closely connected to the questions of whether or not Japan will be able to reach it's climate mitigation committments.
