Fukushima Is Another Chernobyl

When the disaster struck the nuclear power plant at Fukushima in Japan a while back, there were many who were saying it was another Chernobyl -- a bad enough nuclear disaster to make the area uninhabitable for decades, if not longer. The Japanese government vehemently denied that, and many nuclear "experts" in this country backed them up. They said it wasn't that bad, and the Japanese would be able to control the situation with only a minimum of radioactivity escaping -- well within the limits of what would harm humans.

Since that time Japanese government officials has slowly, bit by bit, upgraded the seriousness of the damage caused and its possible effects. Now it looks like the Japanese government is preparing to admit that the area around the plant (towns within 12 miles of the plant) have been affected by radiation at high enough levels to make them too dangerous to live in -- perhaps for many decades. Here is what the New York Times in reporting:

The formal announcement, expected from the government in coming days, would be the first official recognition that the March accident could force the long-term depopulation of communities near the plant, an eventuality that scientists and some officials have been warning about for months. Lawmakers said over the weekend — and major newspapers reported Monday — that Prime Minister Naoto Kan was planning to visit Fukushima Prefecture, where the plant is, as early as Saturday to break the news directly to residents. The affected communities are all within 12 miles of the plant, an area that was evacuated immediately after the accident.

The government is expected to tell many of these residents that they will not be permitted to return to their homes for an indefinite period. It will also begin drawing up plans for compensating them by, among other things, renting their now uninhabitable land. While it is unclear if the government would specify how long these living restrictions would remain in place, news reports indicated it could be decades. That has been the case for areas around the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine after its 1986 accident.

It looks like the doomsayers were right. Fukushima has become a second Chernobyl.