China News Service, March 11 (Zhang Aolin) On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake occurred on the east coast of Japan, triggering a tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear accident. More than 22,000 people were killed and missing, and a large number of people were evacuated. The area around the nuclear accident turned into a "ghost town" overnight.

　　Thirteen years later, about 30,000 people are still living in refuge outside the country.

At the same time, the slow progress in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants and the continued discharge of nuclear sewage not only make local people confused about the future, but also turn Fukushima into a "wound" for the world.

Data map: On March 11, 2011, after the "311 Earthquake" occurred, the ruins of the disaster area of ​​Minamisanriku Town, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan were hit by the tsunami.

“A hometown I can’t go back to”

About 30,000 people are still sheltering outside

　　The tsunami after the earthquake caused the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was built on the coast of Fukushima, to be flooded with seawater, causing a big explosion, resulting in the leakage of nuclear material, and a large number of people were evacuated in a hurry.

Overnight, the surrounding area became a "ghost town."

　　According to the latest report from Japan's "Yomiuri Shimbun", as of now, there are still 7 municipalities, towns and villages in the nuclear accident disaster area, and the area of ​​about 309 square kilometers has not been lifted. More than 29,000 affected people have to continue to evacuate outside, 90% of which are from Fukushima Prefecture.

　　Due to concerns about safety, the number of residents in many areas that have been lifted is only 20% of what it was before the earthquake. Futaba Town, Fukushima Prefecture, which was recently lifted from lockdown, has only 103 regular residents after allowing residents to return home in August 2022. residents, accounting for only 1.9% of the registered population.

Data map: An abandoned school in the Fukushima earthquake-stricken area.

　　The local government's goal is to restore the population to 2,000 people in the next 30 years, but the uneasiness of reality has deterred a large number of people in the disaster area.

　　The time for the lifting of restrictions on a large number of mountains, forests and farmland outside residential areas is still far away.

Since a large amount of decontamination work needs to be carried out before the ban is lifted, this also means that the risk of nuclear contamination still exists in many places.

　　Not only that, after the Fukushima nuclear accident, local decontamination work produced a large amount of radioactive waste. As of December 2023, the total amount of waste stored in temporary storage facilities in Fukushima Prefecture has reached 13.75 million cubic meters. Japanese media The metaphor is "can fill 11 Tokyo Domes".

　　However, the Japanese government has not yet reached a conclusion on how to deal with these wastes. These wastes are like a "Sword of Damocles" that always hangs over the heads of the people in the Fukushima disaster area.

"An unstoppable disaster"

Fukushima nuclear wastewater continues to be discharged

　　What is even more worrying is that the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company will brazenly discharge Fukushima nuclear wastewater into the Pacific Ocean starting on August 24, 2023, regardless of strong opposition from Japan and abroad.

Up to now, about 30,000 tons have been discharged.

Data map: Seawater transfer pump at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

Image source: Associated Press

　　Japan is determined to push forward the discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea and claims that the discharge system is "very safe". However, since the discharge began, problems including nuclear power plant staff being splashed by nuclear sewage, reduced pressure of water pumps used to transport nuclear sewage, and blocked filters have These incidents occur at random intervals, causing the outside world to greatly question TEPCO's reliability and transparency in handling nuclear wastewater.

　　The Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK) quoted local people in Fukushima as saying in its report, "Accidents occur frequently, which makes people completely uneasy!" "The world is paying attention to the discharge of nuclear sewage, and (accidents) are really regrettable!".

　　"Discharging nuclear sewage into the sea is artificially spreading radioactive energy!" Chiyo Oda, 68, is a resident of Joban City, Fukushima Prefecture. The 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident completely took away her stable life by the sea.

　　Over the past 13 years, out of the desire to "protect the ocean," Oda and his companions launched the "Stop Polluting the Ocean! Citizens' Meeting", a citizen group that regularly organizes demonstrations against nuclear sewage discharge and other activities.

Data map: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

　　In September 2023, after TEPCO officially started discharging nuclear sewage, they also filed a lawsuit with the Fukushima District Court together with residents and fishery practitioners inside and outside Fukushima Prefecture, requesting to stop the discharge of nuclear sewage into the sea. This was the first time in Japan that Examples are similar to litigation.

In early November of the same year, they also filed a supplementary lawsuit, expanding the number of plaintiffs to approximately 350 people.

　　The indictment reads, “The double harm caused by nuclear accidents and discharge into the sea must not be tolerated!”

"Invisible future"

The world’s “wounds” are difficult to heal

　　Data shows that before the formal discharge of sewage began, 1.3 million tons of Fukushima nuclear wastewater had been stored. It would take at least 30 years to discharge all this water.

Currently, Fukushima nuclear wastewater is still increasing at a rate of about 90 tons per day.

　　To solve the problem of increasing nuclear wastewater, completing the decommissioning of the Fukushima nuclear power plant is a key step.

According to the goals previously set by the Japanese government, it plans to completely complete the decommissioning of the Fukushima nuclear power plant by 2051, 40 years after the nuclear accident.

Data map: Nuclear residue inside Unit 2 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

　　However, the progress of the removal of nuclear residue, which is considered the "biggest difficulty" in the scrapping work, is very unsatisfactory.

It is estimated that as much as 880 tons of nuclear residue melted in Units 1 to 3 of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. The removal of nuclear residue originally planned to start in 2021 has been postponed three times.

　　NHK pointed out in the report that given the current situation, there is increasing uncertainty in completing the Fukushima nuclear power plant scrapping plan within 40 years.

　　Ryoji Antuzuka is a psychiatrist in Soma City, the disaster area of ​​the Fukushima nuclear accident. She has been providing psychological counseling for victims for 10 years, but she cannot be pessimistic: "The streets are becoming more and more dilapidated, and people who cannot see the future are also more and more."

　　The harm caused by nuclear accidents is by no means limited to Japan.

　　The German Marine Science Research Institute previously pointed out that the coast of Fukushima has the strongest ocean currents in the world, and 10 years after the discharge, the pollution may spread to global waters.

There are also studies saying that nuclear sewage may be evaporated into clouds through atmospheric circulation, and then turn into rainwater, causing global impacts.

　　Thirteen years have passed, but the trauma caused by the strong earthquake to the local people has not yet been healed. The long and long road to decommissioning the nuclear power plant and Japan's insistent action of discharging nuclear sewage have passed the crisis to the whole world. Fukushima has become a "wound" that is difficult to heal on the earth.

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