Well... it's been over three months since the March 11, 2011 9.0 Magnitude earthquake spawned a huge tsunami that helped create a nuclear crisis in Japan at the Dai-ichi (Big One) nuclear facility in Fukushima-ken.
What's going on? This information below is current as of June 15, 2011:
What's going on? This information below is current as of June 15, 2011:
- Japanese officials recently doubled their previous estimate as to how much radiation had escaped from the Dai-ichi nuclear plant. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says the radiation released from Dai-ichi has been estimated atabout 770,000 terabecquerels during the week after March 11, 2011. Previous estimates were at 370,000 terabecquerels;
- The Agency believes nuclear reactors No. 1 and No.2 meltedfaster than the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO is the owner andoperator of the nuclear facility) than previously stated.
- Japanese government says an extension of the exclusion zone around the plant will likely be enlarged;
- Nearly 90,000 residents have been forced to evacuate in the exclusion zone and remain displaced;
- Concerns about workers at the plant and their work conditions haverisen in recent weeks, with multiple incidents of exhaustion, heatexhaustion and dehydration;
- A band of retirees, many over 70-years-old, have volunteered to take over work duties at the plant;
- Japanese government has banned the shipment and sale of green tea (o-cha) growing in prefectures near the nuclear plant after testing on tea leaf samples showed a high dosage of cesium radiation released from the plant,and higher than the legally allowed level. O-cha from Fukushima-ken (Fukushima Prefectuire), Ibaraki-ken (Ibaraki Prefecture), Chiba-ken (Chiba Prefecture), Kanagawa-ken (Kanagawa Prefecture) and Tochigi-ken (Tochigi Prefecture) are affected.
- The Japanese Environment Ministry will allow theincineration of rubble and possible burying of rubble underground thatmay be highly radioactive in an effort to speed up theremoval and disposal of debris associated with the disaster.Some 23 milliontons of debris needs to be removed from coastal areas decimated by the disasters to allow rebuilding.
