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      Five Years Later, Effects of Fukushima Radiation Leak Still Unknown

   by Brian Padden

   Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Emperor Akihito led a five year
   commemoration service Friday for the victims of the massive 2011
   earthquake and tsunami that set off one of the worlds' worst nuclear
   disasters.

   Bells rang out in Tokyo and people across Japan bowed their heads in a
   moment of silence at 2:46 p.m., the exact time the 9.0 -magnitude quake
   struck offshore. The quake generated a series of tidal waves, some as
   high a 17 meters, that devastated much of the island's eastern
   coastline, and killed nearly 20,000 people.

   The two leaders bowed in front of a stage full of flowers in a Tokyo
   ceremony with 1,200 people in attendance, including survivors from the
   stricken area.

   "In the past, our nation suffered countless disasters that could be
   described as national crises, but overcame them each time with
   determination and hope. I vow once again that we will follow hand in
   hand in the footsteps of our forefathers and continue to move forward,"
   said Prime Minister Abe.

   Radiation levels

   The tsunami disabled the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant, causing the
   worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 meltdown at the Chernobyl Nuclear
   Power Plant in Ukraine.  Three of the Fukushima's reactors were
   breached, causing a nuclear meltdown that emitted large amounts of
   radiation across the surrounding area, contaminating water, food and
   the air.

   More than 600,000 people were evacuated from nearby towns. Some 10
   percent of the residents still live in temporary housing across the
   Fukushima prefecture.

   "Efforts are being made to improve the situation, but my heart aches at
   the thought that there are still people who cannot return home," said
   Emperor Akihito at Friday's ceremony.

   ''

   Lasting damage

   Clean up of the Fukushima plant is still ongoing and has been slowed by
   malfunctioning robots that must be used in the damaged buildings where
   high radiation levels make it too dangerous for humans to operate.

   The environmental group Greenpeace says the Fukushima disaster was
   responsible for the single largest release of radioactivity into the
   ocean and has damaged the genetic DNA of wildlife in the affected area.

   Some researchers are also reporting a dramatic rise in thyroid cancer
   among children in the Fukushima prefecture, although the Japanese
   government disputes this claim.

   Japan has spent billions of dollars in assistance and in
   decontamination and reconstruction efforts.

   Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries recently
   claimed that 74 percent of affected farmland in east and northeastern
   Japan has recovered and is no longer contaminated with radiation.

   However in the hardest hit Fukushima region, the farmland restoration
   rate was only 33 percent.

   Abe promised Thursday to increase decontamination efforts to end most
   of the evacuation orders still affecting 100,000 Fukushima residents,
   and allow them to return to their homes.

   Some environmental organizations, like Greenpeace, oppose this plan.
   They argue that radiation levels are still high in the forest areas
   that cover 70 percent of  Fukushima, and that radiation continues to
   leak into the underground water supply and out into the Pacific ocean.

   Lifting these evacuations, Greenpeace said, will benefit Abe's
   political supporter, Tokyo Electric, by ending its obligation to
   provide compensation, at the cost of potentially exposing residents to
   increased risks.

   "They lost everything and they're going to lose even the small amount
   of compensation that Tokyo Electric is reluctantly paying," said Shaun
   Burnie, a nuclear specialist with Greenpeace.

   ''

   Nuclear legacy

   Japan's reliance on nuclear power remains a divisive issue five years
   after the tsunami caused the Fukushima disaster.

   Supporters like Prime Minister Abe say resource poor Japan needs
   nuclear power to remain economically competitive and to reduce carbon
   emissions related to global warming.

   Japan initially shut down all the country's nuclear plants after the
   meltdown, forcing energy companies to turn to more expensive fossil
   fuels.

   Abe and utility companies have been pushing to get reactors back in
   operation. However a Japanese court this week ordered the shutdown of
   two nuclear reactors previously declared safe under post-disaster
   safety rules.

   Anti-nuclear sentiment in Japan still runs high. Opponents include
   former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who held office during the Fukushima
   disaster.

   At one point during the meltdown the Japanese government was
   considering evacuating 50 million people, which Kan said, "would have
   been like a losing a huge war."

   Opponents say the enduring lesson of the man-made nuclear disaster is
   that the danger of decades of widespread radioactive contamination far
   outweigh the benefits offered by nuclear energy.

   If any good has come from this tragedy, they say, it is the increased
   public support for developing alternative renewable, clean energy
   sources like wind, solar and geothermal power.

   "The 21st century will be one based upon renewable energy. And that is
   a suitable homage and testament to the many people in Japan who are
   still continuing to suffer from the Fukushima nuclear accident five
   years on and will continue to suffer for a decade ahead," said Burnie.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/five-years-later-effects-of-fukushima
   -radiation-leak-still-unknown/3231456.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/five-years-later-effects-of-fukushima-radiation-leak-still-unknown/3231456.html