Tag Archives: fukushima

Hope from Fukushima

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Greenpeace activists join tens of thousands of people marching on the Japanese parliament on March 10, 2013 in remembrance of the 2011 triple disaster in Fukushima , and to demand the Japanese government to abandon its dangerous nuclear program.

As we mark the second memorial of the March 11, 2011 triple disaster, we see tragedy, but also hope in Japan.

While people mourn for the mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents and children that were lost in the earthquake and tsunami, many of those that fled the natural disaster have been able to return home and rebuild their lives and communities as best they can. Continue reading →

VIDEO: Hear from those in Japan still feeling Fukushima

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Two years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster began but little has changed for the people still struggling with the fallout from the triple meltdown that forced 160,000 from their homes.

The vast majority of those that have lost their homes remain stuck in limbo without proper compensation for their losses from the plant operator, TEPCO, or support to move on with their lives. Families are separated, communities are disintegrating and the level of mistrust in the government’s promises is growing.

Hear below from Fukushima victims and their reality two years later.

Activists plant cherry trees in Fukushima anniversary memorial at nuclear plant

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Greenpeace activists plant cherry trees in front the Duke Energy Harris Nuclear Plant near New Hill, N.C.

Monday will mark the two-year anniversary of the day that the disastrous Japanese earthquake and tsunami were exacerbated by the manmade disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Two years after the meltdowns and explosions at the nuclear plant, tens of thousands of people in Japan still cannot safely return to their homes as a result of the disaster.

After Fukushima, many companies and governments finally accepted what they should have known all along: nuclear power is a bad bet. Aside from being far more expensive than safe, clean forms of energy like wind and solar power, nuclear plants simply present too great a safety risk to allow their continued construction. Continue reading →

How can the nuclear industry profit from nuclear disasters?

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Activists from Greenpeace Turkey protest in front of the Hagia Sofia.

At 2:46pm, 11 March 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami hit north east Japan, triggering three meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Since then, an unthinkable amount of radioactive contamination has been discharged to our sea, our air, our land, and onto ourselves. It has changed the lives of millions of people, destroyed local farmlands and fisheries that were carefully protected for generations.

The most contaminated areas of Fukushima nuclear disaster remain inhabitable, and will for decades. This leaves the 160,000 ordered to evacuate stuck in limbo, unable to go home, and unable to build new lives elsewhere because they lack proper compensation and support. Continue reading →

Infographic: Japan Switches off Nuclear

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The Fiasco at Fukushima in Japan has reminded the planet that despite the blithe assurances of the nuclear industry, nuclear power is never safe. Over a year after the meltdowns and explosions of three General Electric designed reactors the disaster is far from under control. The so called experts still don’t know where the radioactive cores of these reactors even are. As a result of Fukushima, Japan has shut down every one of its nuclear reactors. They should NEVER split another atom!

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54 reactors down: Japan breaks free of nuclear power

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Greenpeace activists march in the "Energy Shift Parade" through Shibuya on the three-month anniversary of the East Japan earthquake disaster and the start of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis. Greenpeace and the people of Japan are marching in protest against nuclear energy, and calling on the Japanese government to follow the lead set by Germany and Switzerland, and abandon nuclear energy to focus on clean, renewable technology.06/11/2011

With tomorrow’s scheduled shutdown of Japan’s Tomari nuclear power plant the country will be free from nuclear power for the first time since 1966. Can it seize this historic opportunity? Here at Greenpeace we believe it can.

All of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors will be offline. Now, the country’s government must learn from its mistakes of the past, listen to its people and scientists, keep reactors offline, and usher in Japan’s renewable and sustainable future. History is within their grasp.

There will never be a better time. Since the terrible events of March 11 last year when an earthquake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan has shown that nuclear power can be abandoned quickly and with an invisible impact on people’s daily lives.  The Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Yukio Edano has said there will be no restrictions on electricity use or rolling blackouts.

The operator of the destroyed Fukushima reactors, Tokyo Electric Power added “for the electricity supply and demand in the foreseeable future, we expect to maintain stable supply.” If there are electricity shortages this summer it will be the fault of the government who instead of properly planning energy conservation and pouring resources into renewables have been obsessed with restarting Japan’s discredited nuclear reactors as fast as possible.

So why is the government frantically trying to restart the country’s reactors without the consent of the people living nearby? Why should the people of Japan suffer more nuclear risks? The country’s nuclear reactors and infrastructure are in no state to withstand another major earthquake that experts warn is almost inevitable.

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Fifty-three reactors down, one to go: Japan may have a nuclear-free summer

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Blogpost by Justin McKeating

Japan is almost completely free of nuclear power now, after the shutdown on March 26, 2012 of the Number 6 reactor at the country’s Kashiwasaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. No nuclear reactors are now operational on the Japanese mainland. When scheduled maintenance closes the Number 3 Tomari reactor on the island of Hokkaido on May 5 2012, all of Japan’s 54 reactors will be out of action. The country will be nuclear-free for the first time since 1966. Continue reading →

Message to world leaders: Fukushima is a reminder; end the threat of nuclear power

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Blogpost by Mareike Britten

More than 50 organisations and individuals from around the world have joined forces with Greenpeace and called for investments in safe, renewable energy in order to end the threat of nuclear power. That message is in the form of an open letter being delivered to world leaders following the first anniversary as a reminder that the Fukushima nuclear disaster must be seen for what it is: another overwhelming piece of evidence that nuclear energy can never be safe and must be phased out.

Jakarta: Protest to highlight dangers of nuclear reactors Continue reading →

Fukushima, One Year After…

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Blogpost by Kumi Naidoo

Day of Action- Indonesia

Fukushima. Greenpeace activists during the Global Day of action to commemorate the first anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Today our thoughts are once more with the people of Japan; our condolences are with those who lost their loved ones and our admiration is with those who are valiantly rebuilding their lives and communities one year after the earthquake and tsunami. We wish them continued strength.

In remembering the terrible consequences of natures full force through an earth quake and tsunami it is also important that we do not allow the accompanying nuclear crises to be painted as a natural disaster: it was man made! Continue reading →