Japan marks 12th anniversary of tsunami and nuclear disaster

Japan on Saturday marked the 12th anniversary of the massive earthquake tsunami and nuclear disaster with a minute of silence as concerns grew ahead of the planned release of the treated radioactive water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant and the governments return to nuclear energyThe 90 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that ravaged large parts of Japans northeastern coast on March 11 2011 left more than 22000 people dead including about 3700 whose subsequent deaths were linked to the disasterA moment of silence was observed nationwide at 246 pm the moment the earthquake struck Some residents in the tsunamihit northern prefectures of Iwate and Miyagi walked down to the coast to pray for their loved ones and the 2519 whose remains were never foundIn Tomioka one of the Fukushima towns where initial searches had to be abandoned due to radiation firefighters and police use sticks and a hoe to rake through the coastline looking for the possible remains of the victims or their belongings At an elementary school in Sendai north of Fukushima participants released hundreds of colourful balloons in memory of the lives lostIn Tokyo dozens of people gathered at an anniversary event in a downtown park and antinuclear activists staged a rally The earthquake and tsunami that slammed into the coastal Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant destroyed its power and cooling functions triggering meltdowns in three of its six reactorsThey spewed massive amounts of radiation that caused tens of thousands of residents to evacuateOver 160000 people had left at one point and about 30000 are still unable to return due to longterm radiation effects or health concerns Many of the evacuees have already resettled elsewhere and most affected towns have seen significant population declines over the past decadeAt a ceremony Fukushima Gov Masao Uchibori said decontamination and reconstruction had made progress but we still face many difficult problems He said many people were still leaving and the prefecture was burdened with the plant cleanup and rumours about the effects of the upcoming release of the treated waterAlso read Japan PM fires aid over samesex couple commentsThe plants operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings and the government are making final preparations to release into the sea more than 13 million tons of treated radioactive water beginning in coming monthsThe government says the controlled release of the water after treatment to safe levels over several decades is safe but many residents as well as neighbours China and South Korea and Pacific island nations are opposed to itFishing communities are particularly concerned about the reputation of local fish and their still recovering business In his speech last week Uchibori urged the government to do utmost to prevent negative rumours about the water release from further damaging Fukushimas imagePrime Minister Fumio Kishida renewed his pledge to support the ongoing reconstruction efforts Speaking at the ceremony he did not mention his policy to maximize nuclear power or address the water dischargeKishidas government has reversed a nuclear phaseout policy that was adopted following the 2011 disaster and instead is pushing a plan to maximize the use of nuclear energy to address energy supply concerns triggered by Russias war on Ukraine while meeting decarbonization requirementsUchiboris goal is to bolster the renewable energy supply to 100 per cent of the Fukushima prefectural needs by 2040 He said last week that while the energy policy is the central governments mandate he wants it to remember that Fukushima continues to suffer from the nuclear disasterThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever