Everything I see reminds me at how precarious nuclear generation can be.
My thoughts raced to conceive of such an event here in California, which is quite seismically active itself. A 9.0 earthquake anywhere near the Golden State would lead to a tremendous loss of life and a leveling of quite a bit of the infrastructure. If you compounded that with a tsunami that affected more than 420 miles of coastline, which is the equivalent of a wave hitting the coast from San Francisco down to Malibu, the losses would have potentially been more catastrophic than they were in Japan. The wave would have affected Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant and depending on where the wave landed, also San Onofre nuclear power plant. Both operators of the plants explained after the quake that they were designed to withstand quakes and tsunamis that exceed scientists' expectations as the worst that could happen. Of course, the Japanese scientists said the same thing about their plant, but that's a different story altogether.
To say that the entire country has been effected by this tragedy is a gross understatement. There is power rationing, food and water rationing and fears of a nuclear fallout caused by the meltdown in Fukushima. It's been a bad year to be Japan, but there's actually some good things going on right now in the Land of the Rising Sun. The power plant that has caused a huge swath of the Miyagi prefecture coastline to be uninhabitable, has been stabilized. Is it fixed? No, but they are getting closer to completing a cold shutdown of the facility.
Some of the workers that are volunteering to help contain the damage caused by the plant are retirees that have knowingly taken a risk to help their countrymen. They understand that they're going to be subjected to much higher levels of radiation, but their thought is, "if we get cancer 20 or 30 year from now, we probably won't care, because we'll be dead." I'm paraphrasing of course. But they are skilled men in their 70's taking on a role that most people would look at as a suicide mission. I do know that the working conditions are suspect at best and the pay right now is about $120 a day, but that's not what's inspiring. The fact that there are a group of people willing to give so much late in the game is humbling. That's good news for the Japanese.
Never underestimate a determined elderly Japanese sensei.
With the nuclear power industry under attack the Japanese Diet has taken a much more active role in preparing a Japanese energy plan that is going to utilize much more renewable energy sources. Moving the technological might of the nation to embrace pursuing new means of producing energy is a good thing. Before the quake Japan was 11th of the G20 nations when it came to spending money on renewable energy. This was a wake up call that will be answered and gives the world another player in the emerging market of new sources of energy. This is good news, and sure it's dictated by the largest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, but it's moving in a more pointed direction to solve problems that every nation faces.
There's also the Japanese Women's Soccer team, which beat the U.S.A to take the World Cup. I was disappointed that the home town crew couldn't win their third title, but it was a fantastic story to watch the Japanese team come from behind and then ultimately win the game in penalty kicks. Only once before had the team even made it to the quarterfinals, let alone all the way to the title game. The players themselves are not professionals, but in fact a club team that meet after work to practice their world championship soccer craft. Two of the women were employees of the Fukushima power plant at one point. This is a twist that you wouldn't want to write because it's too contrived, but it's the truth. Here was an underdog of a team playing against better funded teams and odds that would make any bookie salavate, but they won.
Seems like it's gonna be tough to fill that cup with 8 oz. of hope.
And right now in northern Japan the ubiquitous summer festivals that celebrate a return of warmer weather, outdoor cooking and dancing are preparing to liven up areas most affected by the disasters of March. With so many things still to be decided and so much loss surrounding everyday life, it's amazing that as a society they continue to find things to celebrate. With a somber flourish I'm sure, the annual summer events are a great expression of the Japanese experience. I spent a couple years in Japan, and when summer summered in the north, they got down. I'm glad to see some normalcy coming back into their lives.
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