Japan marks 15 years since devastating quake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear crisis
Today, Japan marks 15 years since a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the country’s northeast, which resulted in the world’s worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl crisis in 1986, Qazinform News Agency learned from Kyodo.
The triple disaster – M9.0 earthquake, tsunami and meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex – led to the death of more than 22,000 people. The operator of the nuclear power plant is still working on dismantling the damaged units by 2051.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is set to attend a ceremony hosted by Fukushima Prefecture, although the central government stopped hosting memorial events in 2022.
From early morning, families of victims gathered at Okawa Elementary School in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, where 84 students and teachers were killed in tsunami.
According to the latest figures from the National Police Agency, death toll from the disasters stood at 15,901 people, while 2,519 people were still unaccounted for as of the end of February, mostly from Miyagi, Fukushima and Iwate prefectures.
Although police and other groups have worked to locate and identify the victims’ remains, the passage of time and changes to the terrain have further complicated efforts already hindered by the condition of the bodies.
Many remains discovered in remote areas could not be identified, and tragically, some family members who had been searching for their loved ones have since passed away.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. continues to face setbacks in its plan to decommission the crippled nuclear plant by 2051, delaying the full-scale retrieval of melted fuel debris from the early 2030s to fiscal 2037 or later.
So far, TEPCO has collected only small samples - less than one gram - from the No. 2 reactor. A third trial retrieval using a robotic arm is scheduled for this fall.
It is estimated that approximately 880 tons of fuel debris remain across reactors 1 to 3, all of which suffered core meltdowns during the nuclear crisis.
Earlier, it was reported that the Japanese government on Tuesday designated a total of 61 goods and technologies for priority investment by the public and private sectors, as part of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's efforts to realize a strong economy.