Less than half Japan dead recovered

Less than half of estimated dead recovered, while Fukushima plant officials hope to stop pumping radioactive water into sea The search is continuing for victims of the tsunami that struck Japan’s north-east coast almost a month ago, while officials said they hoped to stop pumping radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea. More than 20,000 Japanese troops and 110 from the US conducted land, sea and air searches for the thousands of victims whose bodies have yet to be recovered. One month since the 11 March disaster, fewer than 13,000 of the estimated 28,000 who died have been found. The likelihood of finding more is fading because many have probably been swept out to sea. A similar search last week yielded just 70 bodies. On a visit to Ishinomaki, where 2,600 of 163,000 residents were killed and 2,800 are still missing, the prime minister, Naoto Kan, vowed to support the city’s recovery. About 17,000 people are still living in evacuation centres, while its fishing industry, which accounts for 40% of the local economy, may never fully recover. “The government will do its best to help you,” Kan said. “We will do everything we can to enable you to start fishing again.” The operation to stabilise the Fukushima plant, meanwhile, is about to enter its fifth week, with no end in sight to the world’s worst nuclear crisis since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Nuclear officials said they hoped to stop pumping contaminated water into the sea, amid criticism from neighbouring China and South Korea, which have accused Tokyo of incompetency in its handling of the crisis. Engineers said the build-up of radioactive water during recent attempts to cool Fukushima’s overheating reactors left them with little choice but to pump it into the ocean, where it quickly dissipates. The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), apologised for the nuclear crisis, which has prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, contaminated local food and water supplies and caused panic as far away as Tokyo, 150

Posted by on April 10, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.