Japan's Prime Minister Kan: "Evacuation Zone Will Be Uninhabitable for 10-20 years"

[flamingdem]

According to Yomiuri, that's what Kan said to one of his special advisors Kenichi Matsumoto:

Talking about the evacuation zone around the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, Kan said "It will be uninhabitable for a while. For 10 years, maybe 20 years," Matsumoto disclosed to the press.

福島第一原子力発電所周辺の避難対象の区域について「当面住めないだろう。１０年住めないのか、２０年住めないのかということになってくる」と述べた。
松本氏が記者団に明らかにした。


http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/news/20110413-OYT1T00707.htm?from=top
Wednesday, April 13, 2011

[AnOhioan]

1. Gonna be a lot longer than that...

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. And they keep widening the zone.

[Barrett808]

3. Another link:

Tokyo, April 13 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said that the evacuation zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant could be uninhabitable for the next 10 to 20 years, Special Adviser to the Cabinet Kenichi Matsumoto told reporters Wednesday.

Kan made the remark in talks with Matsumoto the same day.

Matsumoto suggested to the prime minister a plan to build an eco-friendly town in an inland area of Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, for 50,000 to 100,000 of the evacuees.

Kan supported the idea and told him that the government should consider new cities modeled on garden cities in Germany, Matsumoto said.

Evacuation Zone to May Be Uninhabitable for 20 Yrs: Kan

[cascadiance]

4. I'm wondering if there are ways with ultrasound, etc. to "contain" certain sea life from this zone..

Normally I wouldn't want to f with mother nature at all, but given how we've already put tons of radiation in to the sea in that area, I think the biggest concern is that biological organisms will injest this and that the effects of this will go up the food chain. If the particles were to sink to the bottom, then they might be more contained to just that area. I worry though if tuna, etc. going through this area will migrate this problem elsewhere around the globe, and if there's any way to keep them out of this area so that we can minimize this problem now when its starting and perhaps a bigger threat. Same for birds around this area. Is there a way of using sound or other environmental influences that can keep migratory birds from going through this area too, that could ship the problem to many other areas. Many have felt that this might have been a problem in Chernobyl when birds flying through there would transport radiation to other areas of the world, which has lead to increasing cancer rates in other areas too.

[pscot]

5. It will make a great wildlife sanctuary.

[flamingdem]

6. The animals will probably be killed so they don't reproduce and spread as they roam nt

[pscot]

9. There's nothing kills more critters than us

[Javaman]

17. What a very odd reply...

Do a little research on the health of the animals near chernobyl.

and by the way, humans build that nuke plant that failed and is now causing this mess.

so therefore, humans are causing the health problems and deaths of the animals in that area.

[pscot]

19. There are dueling papers on the subject

There's no doubt that birds and animals have moved back in, but some insects and migratory bird species are apparently more susceptible to radiation and are showing signs of mutation. Most animals are short lived, and/or transit in and out of the area so radiation isn't uniformly damaging for individuals or species. There is also significant local variation in the amount of radiation inside the reserve. There's no doubt the human population around the reactor zone is suffering. Cancer rates are high.

I'm saying the pressure of continuous human presence is on the whole worse for animal populations than living in the irradiated zone. For critters, we are a worse threat than radiation.

[bananas]

7. Full of new and exotic species never seen before. nt

[flamingdem]

8. 7 legged spiders, 2 headed dogs, 4 tailed cats - an "extreme" themepark?

Not to make light of the story but DNA damage is a reality

[txlibdem]

12. Instead of Jurassic Park we would have Apocolyptic Park ($75 admission fee)

Since the Fukushima tragedy is now at the scale of Chernobyl (per official reports IIRC), then we should be able to go to Chernobyl today and find the 4 headed wolves, giant owls, and 6 legged deer. What? You mean that those freakish nightmares do not exist? But that's not what the anti-nuke fear mongers say!

[flamingdem]

13. I just remembered - tour operators connected to Chernobyl are offering such an extreme tourist trip!

No wonder I thought of that.. extreme tourism indeed

[LiberalEsto]

10. If that's all, HE can go live there

Sane people would stay way out of the hazard zone for a few centuries at the very least.

Unless by some miracle new technology is developed to make the area safe.

[Mnemosyne]

11. Japan 'Uninhabitable' has been stuck in my mind since it began. Very sad. K&R n/t

[Nihil]

16. In that case, I suggest getting an atlas out of the library ...

... and examining the difference in scale between "the evacuation zone"
and "Japan" ...

Yes, it's a terrible tragedy - "very sad" just doesn't cover it.
No, it doesn't make "Japan" uninhabitable and such pointless
hyperbole doesn't help anyone.

[Mnemosyne]

18. Sorry you are offended. n/t

[NickB79]

14. I wonder how the exclusion zone's radiation levels compare to Hiroshima or Nagasaki

In the years that followed WWII?

[Barrett808]

15. Looks like this is an unofficial statement:

...Kenichi Matsumoto, a consultant to the prime minister's Cabinet Secretariat, initially told Japanese media that the remarks had been made by Mr Kan when they met at his official residence earlier in the day.

But the 65-year-old academic, who has written many books on wide-ranging subjects including modern history and philosophy, said later the remarks were his own. ...

Japan plant area uninhabitable for years

[jpak]

20. but...but...but.. The Happy Talk Memo sez everything is under control!!!11

This is not Chernobyl

and other happy BS

yup

[SpoonFed]

21. wow, new depths...

I really guess there is no level of downplaying
and retraction that the Japanese will not sink to...