Also – When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping…
Tuesday 15th March 2011
Today did not get off to a very good start as we were rudely shaken wide awake by a particularly nasty aftershock at 5am. Not a rolling sensation this time; more of a 'poltergeist has got hold of the bed and is very angry' movement. Rhiannon came hurtling into our room and got into bed with us. Tim got up and ended up going into work at 7am. I drifted back to sleep only to be woken by the doorbell – an international DHL delivery! Some normal life is still going on, thankfully.
It took me a while to discover that it was only about a 4.1 magnitude, but it was apparently right under Tokyo. Personally I think the epicentre was under our house.
We haven't had too many earthquakes / aftershocks today (can anyone yet explain the difference between these two descriptions?) but they've kicked off again this evening. Why have the tectonic plates decided to shudder at night time? During the writing of this post we were hit by a 6.1 mag which seems to have caused a number of problems in Shizuoka. It had me and the dog running outside (Tim and Rhiannon are at Haneda airport collecting a visitor who will be staying with us for a while to help Tim out at work).
My helper comes on Tuesdays so I was looking forward to seeing her and to take the opportunity to leave the house for a while because she can look after Kita (the dog) who I don't want to leave alone right now. She'd had a long trip to reach us and I felt very guilty for her journey to us and had to leave early as all the trains are stopping very early in the evenings now.
So at lunchtime, Rhiannon and I went to Omotesando for a much-needed retail therapy trip. We spent a happy hour in Kiddyland and, with the prospect of no school for a while, I treated Rhiannon to a huge lego set to keep her occupied for a while. I also kept my promise to a friend in the UK to buy her some weird Japanese goodies before we leave. Then we had lunch out and laughed a lot and basically had a wonderful time. It reduced stress levels immensely. I would have bought my birthday present, but all the designer stores were closed and only a couple of independents and tourist places open. The only people shopping were gaijin.
No, I was not worried about any potential radiation problems.
I do not subscribe to the sensationalist news reports and prefer to rely upon information by scientists directly involved in this crisis. For example, the word "meltdown" is emotive and not necessarily correct. We are miles away from Fukushima and radiation dissipates quickly. Naturally I do feel desperately sorry for those close to the plant. And we must not forget the devastation in Sendai and other places affected by the tsunami.
There was a briefing today. Some details are below.
Update on Japan's Nuclear Power station situation 15 March 2011 17:00 (From Business Link Japan) Highlights are my own.
Telephone briefing from Sir John Beddington, the UK's Chief Scientific adviser and Hilary Walker Deputy Director Emergency Preparedness at the Department of Health.
"Unequivocally, Tokyo will not be affected by the radiation fallout of explosions that have occurred or may occur at the Fukushima nuclear power stations."
The danger area is limited to within the 30 kilometre evacuation zone and no one will be allowed to enter this area other than those directly involved in the emergency procedures currently being undertaken at both Fukushima 1 & 2.
Sir John went on to answer a series of questions including a comparison between Chernobyl and Japan. He said, "They are entirely different. Chernobyl exploded and there was a subsequent fire with radioactive materials being launched 30,000 ft into the air". The maximum height of any Fukushima explosions would be no more than 500 metres.
"The amount of radiation that has been released is miniscule and would have to be in the order of 1,000 or more for it to be a threat to humans" This was confirmed by Hilary Walker.
Sir John went on to say that the Japanese authorities are doing their best to keep the reactors cooled and that this is a continuing operation. All workers on site dealing with the emergency are being fully decontaminated at the end of each shift.
When asked how reliable the information coming from the Japanese authorities was as to radiation levels he said, "this cannot be fabricated and the Japanese authorities are posting all the readings on the recognized international information sites which they are obliged to do. Independent verification shows that the data provided are accurate".
In answer to a specific question from the Head of the British School in Tokyo, Sir John Beddington and Hilary Walker said that there was no reason at all for the school to be closed unless there were other issues such as power outages and transport problems.
A transcript of the briefing should be on the British Embassy in Tokyo website soon.
Some further clarification from Sir John Beddington:
"The point about the Chernobyl thing was, it went up to thirty thousand feet or so and it continued for months on end. The sort of thing that would happen with an explosion in Fukushima would actually be relative duration, hours at the absolute most. What happened with Chernobyl was that the graphite core caught fire and you got radioactive material being putting out to a very great height over a very long period and pretty much went round the world. That radioactive material then went in to the food chain; sheep ate it and concentrated it. That was the problem. It's totally different here in Japan."
So, no, we are not leaving Japan before we're supposed to (unless of course, other events occur in the next few weeks) and we are all well. Rhiannon is not traumatised by all the quakes, she's taking each and every one in her stride – apart from the one this morning which is understandable!
And we shall probably go for some more retail therapy tomorrow.
