Nuclear Crisis Worsens; Situation Bleak for Japanese Near Reactor

Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Time

The US government considers the nuclear crisis in Japan to be worse than we are being led to believe. Yesterday in Congressional testimony, Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said that he believes that the rods at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station are exposed and bleeding into the atmosphere. “We believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures,” he said.

Fresh from dealing with a catastrophic earth quake and tsunami, Japan has had to shift its focus to avoiding nuclear meltdown at the power station. The Japanese government has ordered those within a 12 mile radius of the plant to evacuate, and those between 12 and 19 miles to stay inside in hopes of limiting their exposure to possible radiation, while the US embassy has recommended that Americans stay at least 50 miles clear of the area. Japanese officials have been able to provide little aid and supplies, like food and gas, are scarce, leaving people feeling forgotten and out of options.

"The government is demanding that we don't go out, but it isn't bringing us anything," Katsunobu Sakurai, the mayor of a city close to the evacuation zone, told the Los Angeles Times. "Truck drivers don't want to enter the city. They're afraid of being exposed to radiation…. If the government says we're in a dangerous area, it should take more care of us!"

While those near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station are currently most concerned with ending the crisis and the health effects they will face, they also worry about the social cost of living close to the plant. Survivors of Hiroshima spent their lives dealing with the stigma of having been exposed to radiation, and it is not much of a leap to think that the same will happen again.

LandScan 2009 population dataset/UT-Battelle (population estimates)

Sources:

U.S. Calls Radiation ‘Extremely High;’ Sees Japan Nuclear Crisis Worsening, David E. Sanger, Matthew L. Wald, Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times

Isolated and Angry Amid Fukushima Nuclear Crisis, Barbara Demick, Los Angeles Times