Post date: Apr 03, 2011 2:58:43 PM
Hundreds of demonstrators take to the streets of Tokyo to protest against Japan's support for nuclear energy.
TOKYO, JAPAN (APRIL 3, 2011) REUTERS - Hundred of anti-nuclear took to the streets of Tokyo on Sunday (April 3), as Japanese engineers continued to grapple with the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl for a fourth week.
Around 300 demonstrators gathered in front of the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Co , the operator of the earthquake-crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan, before taking the protest to the offices of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.The drama at the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi complex has unsettled the global nuclear industry and compounded Japan's suffering after an earthquake and tsunami that left about 27,500 people dead or missing.
Radiation has leaked into the sea, food, drinking water and air. It is hindering efforts to cool overheating fuel rods work at the plant and regain control of the damaged reactors.
Experts say that beyond the disaster zone, there is minimal risk to human health further afield in Japan or abroad.
But the nation is staring at months of work to control the plant, followed by years of cleaning up and containment in the worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl in 1986.
Protesters at Sunday's demonstration called on the Japanese government to shut down all nuclear power plants in the country and increase the level of aid to survivors of last month's earthquake and tsunami.
164,000 people still remain in evacuation centres, largely in the northeastern region of Tohoku.
"Lots of my relatives live in places in Tohoku like Fukushima and Miyagi, and they're having a tough time. So I'm here to speak out on their behalf," Hiroshi Iwada told Reuters on the fringes of the protest.
The demonstration was a polite affair, with protesters queueing orderly at traffic lights and cooperating with police cordons.
Anti-nuclear protests have been gathering momentum recent weeks, drawing support from online campaigns. Mayoko Nakahara first heard about Sunday's demonstration through the social media website Twitter.
"I've had worries about (Japan's) nuclear policies for some time, and if we don't take advantage of this opportunity who knows when the (anti-nuclear) movement will have this much energy again. So I'm here now to say we must get rid of nuclear energy," Nakahara said.
A Reuters reading on Friday (April 1) showed a radiation level in downtown Tokyo itself of 0.2 microsieverts per hour -- still low by global standards.
But some worry about the possible spread of radiation from the quake-crippled plant to food and water after high levels were found in vegetables from regions around the plant.
"My home is really close (to Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant) -- my father and mother live really nearby -- so I'm worried about the risk to their health," said Nori Sato, the daughter of two Fukushima farmers.
Under enormous pressure over its handling of the crisis and prior safety preparations, TEPCO confirmed on Sunday two of its employees missing since the March 11 disaster had been found dead in a basement, presumed killed by the tsunami.
Asia's biggest utility, TEPCO shares have fallen 80 percent during the crisis and its chief executive has been in hospital.
The damage from the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami that hit the northeast coast may top $300 billion -- the world's costliest natural disaster.
At the weekend, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) found a crack in a concrete pit at the No. 2 reactor, generating readings of 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour in the air inside.
The leaks did not stop after concrete was poured into the pit, so TEPCO was turning to water-absorbent polymers to prevent more contaminated water escaping.
The crack may be one source of leaks that have sent radiation levels in the sea soaring to 4,000 times the legal limit.