Japan Targets Wider Area for Evacuation (unprepared to grapple with the longer-term implications)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Wall Street Journal

By JURO OSAWA And MITSURO OBE

TOKYO—Japan broadened the 20-kilometer nuclear evacuation zone around the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant Monday to include all or part of five towns and villages that housed tens of thousands of people before the disaster, the latest sign that the government was unprepared to grapple with the longer-term implications of its nuclear crisis.

Japanese officials said residents of the affected areas weren't in danger of surpassing government exposure limits anytime soon and said they have about a month to move. But the decision follows criticism at home and abroad that Japanese officials weren't focusing strongly enough on the threat of long-term exposure to low-but-constant levels of radiation.

It also suggests the cleanup is taking longer than expected, as workers battle to keep three of the plant's reactors under control and prevent the further dispersal of radioactive material.

"Japan has been doing drills for possible nuclear accidents, but they assumed that the accidents would be resolved in about 10 days," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for Japan's nuclear regulatory agency. "We are now dealing with a crisis of a historic proportion. This has necessitated different kinds of responses than initially planned."


Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703841904576256742249147126.html

[damntexdem]

1. Are they providing new major funding for their space program ...

anticipating the ultimate evacuation radius of 8000 miles?

[jannyk]

2. As lacking as Japan's plan is, it is probably better than any US plan.

in place right now. The Japanese are so much better at disaster preparedness than we are and so much less likely to panic. And whilst we are constantly being told 'that it cannot happen here', then there's no need to have a plan developed for when it does.

It is the arrogant 'god complex' of the scientists and nuclear physicists that really worries me. They truly seem to have believed that they could control any anomaly. That is very scary indeed, because as far as they were concerned 'the unexpected' could NOT happen. Therefore, when the unexpected DID happen, there was no plan in place for it - and we don't have one either!

[Art_from_Ark]

3. You make several excellent points