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WOLFGANG WEISS: CHAIR-- UN SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE Prompt evacuations of tens of thousands living near the Fukushima Nuclear Facility reduced their risk from radiation. Some of the radiation releases spread over the ocean, not the heavily populated areas.
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A BRIGHT SPOT AFTER A YEAR OF BAD NEWS FOLLOWING
JAPAN’S MARCH 11, 2011 CATASTROPHE
February 2, 2012
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of
North Carolina, USA
AFTER ALMOST A YEAR OF BAD NEWS, SOME VERY
GOOD NEWS
UN REPORT:: THE HEALTH IMPACT FROM THE RADIATION LEAK AT THE
FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR FACILITY APPEARS TO BE RELATIVELY SMALL
WOLFGANG WEISS: CHAIR-- UN SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
• Prompt evacuations of tens of thousands living near the Fukushima Nuclear Facility reduced their risk from radiation.
• Some of the radiation releases spread over the ocean, not the heavily populated areas.
PROMPT EVACUATIONS REDUCED RISK TO TENS OF THOUSANDS
SOME RADIATION CLOUDS MOVED OVER THE OCEAN
THE EARTHQUAKE OCCURRED AT 2:46 PM,
MARCH 11, 2011
A YEAR OF BAD NEWS
BAD NEWS BEGAN ON MARCH 11, 2011
DEVASTATIONIn a matter of minutes, the M9 earthquake, its accompanying tsunami with wave run up that
reached 40 meters in some places, and radiation leaks from the
Fukushima power plant caused enormous damage and societal
disruption in Japan
THE SCALE OF THE DISASTER IN JAPAN WAS
OVERWHELMING
AS PERCEIVED ON DAY 4, MARCH 14, 2011
GRIM REALITY
DIMENSIONS OF THE CATASTROPHE
WIDE SPREAD DAMAGE AND LOSS OF FUNCTION
MORTALITY (AT LEAST 16,000)“A NIGHTMARE NUCLEAR DISASTER ”
HUGE ECONOMIC LOSSES
THE JAPANESE PEOPLE SUFFERED DEEPLY
FOOD, WATER, ELECTRICITY, SHELTER (500,000 DAMAGED BUILDINGS), COLD WEATHER, LACK OF MEDICINE, AND
THE RADIATION THREAT
EVEN THE WEATHER HINDERED HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
MORTALITY TOLL FROM EARTHQUAKE/TSUNAMI,
WHICH EXCEEDED 16,000, ROSE VERY RAPIDLY
THE LARGE NUMBERS OF BODIES BEING FOUND EARLY IN THE
RESPONSE PHASE OUTSTRIPPED LOCAL CAPACITY TO CREMATE
A SNAPSHOT OF THE SITUATION IN JAPAN
ON DAY 4
BASED ON REPORT FILED BY THE UN’s OCHA ON DAY 4 AFTER THE
MARCH 11 EARTHQAKE
MONDAY, MARCH 14, 2011
PROPERTY DAMAGE COASTAL REGION OF TOHOKU
The Government reported that 2,852 buildings were destroyed and over 40,000 damaged either by earthquake ground shaking, fire, or tsunami
PROPERTY DAMAGE COASTAL REGION OF TOHOKU
The Government reported that 2,852 buildings were destroyed and over 40,000 damaged either by earthquake ground shaking, fire, or tsunami.
THE TSUNAMI WAVES CAUSED ENORMOUS DESTRUCTION
An estimated
5,000 houses were inundated just in Iwate.
DAMAGE TO INFRASTRUCTURE
• 827 roads• 47 bridges• seven railways• AIRPORT.
THE TSUNAMI WAVES CAUSED WIDE SPREAD DESTRUCTION
In Sendai city
of Miyagi, 2,700 houses were washed away.
THE TSUNAMI WAVES CAUSED WIDE SPREAD DESTRUCTION
1,800 houses
were destroyed in Fukushima
SENDAI: FIRE AT NIPPON OIL REFINERY
TSUNAMI WAVES DEVASTATED SENDAI
TSUNAMI DAMAGE
TSUNAMI DAMAGE
TSUNAMI DAMAGE
SOCIETAL IMPACTS
• The tsunami wave runup, which left widespread devastation, debris, and impassable road systems , stymied humanitarian assistance.
AERIAL VIEW: THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR FACIULITY
THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR FACILITY
Radiation leaks and threats of partial melt down developed in four of the six reactors.
RADIATION CLOUD AT THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR FACIULITY
THE RADIATION LEAKS SLOWED THE RADIATION LEAKS SLOWED HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCEHUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE
• The fires, explosions, tsunami wave run up, and radiation leaks and clouds that raised radiation levels to 1,000 + times normal levels dramatically slowed and, in some cases, prevented international humanitarian assistance.
NO-FLY ZONE ABOUT FUKUSHIMA
A RACE WITH TIME AGAINST THE INVISIBLE THREAT
• Experts worked at the margins of their capability, hoping to prevent a nuclear melt down.
• Evacuations in a 10 to 20 km radius about the nuclear facility began promptly
DRY SPENT FUEL POOLS
• By days 6-7, Japanese efforts were focused on the pools used to store spent nuclear fuel, now dry or nearly so, because the consensus was that the dry rods could heat up and spew intense radiation.
WORKING TO AVERT DISASTER
• Emergency workers tried helicopter water drops, heavy-duty fire trucks, and water cannons to no avail to cool down Japan's dangerously overheated nuclear reactors and spent-fuel pools.
HELICOPTERS COLLECT SEA WATER TO DROP ON FUKUSHIMA REACTORS
A RACE AGAINST TIME
• The increased risk from radiation stymied search and rescue operations, already out of time in terms of the “golden window,” and slowed humanitarian assistance.
DAY 14: MARCH 24
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE WAS FINALLY ABLE TO TURN
THE CORNER