Japan’s recovery from tsunami disaster, according to figures

TOKYO (AP) – Ten years after a massive earthquake and tsunami devastated the northeast coast of Japan, devastation at the Fukushima nuclear power plant has been much achieved in disaster-stricken areas, but they are still recovering. Numbers show how much progress has been made and what is left.

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9.0 EARTHQUAKE

The earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 was one of the strongest temps recorded. It landed on the coast at 14:46, causing a major tsunami that reached land within half an hour.

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18 426 DEAD

The National Police Agency says 18,426 people have been killed, mostly in the tsunami, including 2,527 whose remains have not yet been found. Local authorities are still conducting regular searches in the sea and along the coast for traces of those still missing. None of the deaths were directly related to radiation.

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42 500 PEOPLE ARE NOT BACK

Nearly half a million people have been displaced in the northeastern region. Ten years later, 42,565 people, including 35,725 from Fukushima, have not yet been able to return home.

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$ 295 BILLION COST

The government has spent 32 trillion yen ($ 295 billion) on repairing the region, including building roads, seawalls and houses, and supporting the livelihoods of people. In addition, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the devastated nuclear power plant, says its cost for dismantling, evacuating and disinfecting radioactive materials outside the plant will be 21.5 billion yen ($ 200 billion), although analysts believe that it can be a lot. whore.

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2.4% SHORT LIMITS

A decade after the disaster, there are no ban zones in nine Fukushima municipalities around the devastated nuclear power plant. The area covers 2.4% of the prefecture land, down from more than 10% in the initial no-go zone. Decontamination efforts, such as the removal of topsoil and tree branches and the washing of roofs, have helped to reduce radiation levels. But many residents are reluctant to return due to a lack of jobs and constant concern about radiation.

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14 MILLION tons of radioactive waste

Approximately 14 million tonnes of radioactive soil, trees and other waste from disinfection efforts in Fukushima are packed in a large quantity of plastic bags piled up on temporary storage sites. The bags, enough to fill 11 closed baseball stadiums, are now being transported to a medium-term storage facility being built in the two towns where the Fukushima nuclear power plant is located. The government has promised to remove the bags from the prefecture within 30 years, but a final repository has not been determined.

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432 KILOMETERS (270 MILES) SEA WALL

A large part of the northeastern coastline of Japan hit by the tsunami has been reinforced with enormous concrete walls up to 15 meters. All the walls have been completed except parts of the east coast of Fukushima. Upon completion, the total length will be 432 kilometers (270 miles). Critics say the walls look like giant fortresses and block sea views, while posing a potential risk of preventing water from flowing into the sea if it is violated by a future tsunami.

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4,000 NUCLEAR PLANT WORKERS

About 4,000 workers are employed every day at the damaged nuclear power plant to help with its dismantling, which officials say will take up to 40 years, according to some target critics. They remove used fuel rods from cool pools, strengthen a sea wall to protect against future tsunamis, treat radioactive cooling water leaking from the reactors and remove much contaminated debris.

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1.24 MILLION TON OF RADIOACTIVE WATER

Since the disaster, contaminated cooling water has leaked from the damaged reactor vessels into the basements of reactor buildings, where it mixes with groundwater. Much of the water is treated and stored in 1,000 large tanks that now sit across the factory. The operator, TEPCO, says the tanks currently contain 1.24 million tons of water and will be full by the fall of 2022. It is said that the water and tanks need to be removed to make room for facilities needed for the dismantling process.