JAPAN’s FIXATION with NUKE

The country which is infamously known as “the land of the Rising Sun” has recently gone through the worst possible disasters and the losses are still piling up.

First it was the mind-boggling 8.9 magnitude EARTHQUAKE which shook the whole of the country by shifting it 8 feet to the east. It was such a monstrous earthquake that it even shifted the position of the Earth’s axis by 16cm.

 Second it was the apocalyptic TSUNAMI waves about 10 feet high triggered due to the Earthquake which wiped out almost whole of the northeastern Japan.

However the worst of all is the ghostly NUCLEAR Crisis resulting from the harmful life-threatening radiation leak from the Fukushima nuclear power plant which continues to haunt not only the people living near the power plant but the whole world which is now debating the overall benefits of nuclear technology for power generation.

The radiation leakage is still continuing from three reactors of Fukushima plant whose cooling system malfunctioned due to the Earthquake as well as the Tsunami blow. The Japanese govt. is trying its best to avoid a nuclear catastrophe but it seems like the situation is going out of their hands as they are trying desperately to cool down the reactors at any cost using sea water and whatever way possible but the radiation leakage continues and people living in 30 km square area of the plant have been told to avoid going out and keep their houses air-tight closed. Their only hope now is the team of 60 people who are now currently working at the plant to shut down the plant to avoid further leakage. This is perhaps the worst nuclear leakage incident after the Chernobyl nuclear leakage and the Japanese Govt. is on its toe doing everything possible to prevent any further losses.

Japan has already been nuked twice during the Second World War in 1945 when USA bombed HIROSHIMA and NAGASAKI . Japan is the only country in the world which has been attacked with nuclear bombs. Now when the same nuclear radiations are coming back to haunt them again it must be really hard time for them. Who would have thought that the nuclear power plants which are meant for the benefit of humanity by generating electricity can also become the source of deadly radiations!

India too has various nuclear power plants and such disasters can also happen in India. In fact it has happened in India too when in 2001, Bhuj Earthquake struck the Kakrapar Atomic Power station, Gujarat and when in 2004, Tsunami crashed the Madras Atomic Power Station. However there was no effect on the working of these plants as these plants are designed much more efficiently to face such situations but the Fukushima Power plant in Japan is 40 years old which explains it all. So now when people question the security of nuclear power plants and the harm to humanity it may pose they should also realize that it is the most effective tool for power generation in today’s world and the new technological advances in science have made them very secure.

Furthermore just when we thought it was the worst series of epic disasters which were thronging the island of Japan and nothing more worse could happen, a Volcanic Eruption occurred at Kirishima volcano, Japan on 14th March and A large earthquake (mag 6.2) occurred under Mt Fuji Volcano, Japan on 15th March 2011.

Japan has emerged as one of the world’s biggest economic nation from the ashes in the past when it was nuked. Let us all hope that Japan’s Disaster Saga comes to an end quickly and I am sure that it will again bounce back to riches !!