Japan’s recovery from the tsunami disaster, according to figures

TOKYO (AP) – Ten years after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated the northeast coast of Japan, causing the collapse of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, much has been achieved in disaster-stricken areas. but they are still recovering. The numbers show the progress made and what remains.

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9.0 SEISMAGE

The magnitude 9.0 earthquake was one of the strongest earthquakes on record. It attacked the coast at 14:46 and generated an imposing tsunami that hit land in half an hour.

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18,426 DEAD

The National Police Agency says 18,426 people died, mostly in the tsunami, including 2,527 whose remains have not been found. Local authorities continue to periodically search the sea and along the coast to find traces of those that are still disappearing. None of the fatalities have been directly related to radiation.

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42,500 PEOPLE HAVE NOT RETURNED

About half a million people were displaced by the northeast region. Ten years later, 42,565 people, including 35,725 from Fukushima, have yet to return home.

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COST OF $ 295 MILLION

The government has spent 32 trillion yen ($ 295 billion) to reclaim the region, including building roads, docks and houses and supporting people’s livelihoods. In addition, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the destroyed nuclear power plant, claims that its costs of dismantling, compensating evacuees and decontamination of radioactive materials outside the plant will add up to 21.5 trillion yen ($ 200 billion). ), although analysts say it could be much higher.

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2.4% discount

A decade after the disaster, banned areas remain in nine Fukushima municipalities surrounding the destroyed nuclear plant. The surface represents 2.4% of the prefectural ground, below more than 10% of the initial zone of prohibition of access. Decontamination efforts, such as removing topsoil and tree branches and washing roofs, helped reduce radiation levels. But many residents are reluctant to return due to lack of jobs and continuity of radiation.

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14 MILLION TONS OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE

About 14 million tons of radioactive soil, trees and other waste from decontamination efforts in Fukushima are packed in a large number of plastic waste bags stacked in temporary storage sites. The bags, enough to fill 11 closed baseball stadiums, are now being transported to a medium-term warehouse being built in the two cities hosting the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The government has pledged to withdraw bags from the prefecture in 30 years, but no final deposit has been determined.

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432 kilometers (270 miles) of sea wall

Much of the northeastern coast of Japan affected by the tsunami has been fortified with huge concrete docks up to 15 meters (50 feet). All the walls have been finished, except the stretches of the east coast of Fukushima. When completed, the total length will be 432 kilometers (270 miles). Critics say the walls look like giant fortresses and block sea views, though they pose a possible risk of preventing water from returning to the sea if it breaks with a future tsunami.

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4,000 NUCLEAR PLANT WORKERS

Some 4,000 workers work every day at the damaged nuclear power plant to help with its withdrawal, which officials say will take 40 years, according to a target critic who is overly optimistic. They remove spent fuel rods from cooling pools, reinforce the dock to protect themselves from future tsunamis, treat radioactive cooling water coming out of reactors, and remove highly contaminated waste.

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1.24 MILLION TONS OF RADIOACTIVE WATER

Since the disaster, contaminated cooling water has seeped from damaged reactor containment vessels into the basements of reactor buildings, where it mixes with groundwater. Much of the water is treated and stored in 1,000 huge tanks that are now piled up on the plant. The operator, TEPCO, says the tanks currently contain 1.24 million tonnes of water and will be filled in the autumn of 2022. It says water and tanks need to be removed to make way for the facilities. necessary in the dismantling process.