This Tuesday, 11 March, the world marks the solemn fourteenth anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, which had devastating consequences on people’s health and the environment, while also highlighting the fragility of nuclear power.
On 11 March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit off the north-eastern coast of Japan, sending shockwaves across the region. The subsequent tsunami waves, reaching up to 40 meters in height, breached the Fukushima plant’s sea defences, triggering 3 reactor meltdowns. The impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster can never be undone; its radioactive footprint is embedded in our world forever and will affect generations to come. It will still be many years before we realise the true extent of nuclear disasters.
Over the following years, many scientists and doctors have published evidence of the devastating impact the accident is having on the health of those in the areas immediately affected by the catastrophe, including a 14% increase in congenital heart defects in newborns, thyroid cancers and genetic abnormalities.
Speaking ahead of the 14th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Chernobyl Children International’s Voluntary CEO, Adi Roche said;
“It’s devastating to see that patterns laid down by Chernobyl are being mirrored now in Fukushima. Any potential explosion or meltdown at any nuclear power plant, by accident or design, would cause irreversible damage to the environment and human life that will last for thousands of years.” Roche said.
“Though Fukushima happened because of a natural disaster, and Chernobyl was a man-made disaster, their long lasting impact are the same. Now, recent attacks in Ukraine have shown us how little mankind have learned about the fragility of nuclear power and now innocent children are, once again, paying the highest price.”
Last month’s emboldened strikes on the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant further escalated the risks associated with the brittleness of nuclear facilities. The ‘impregnable’ sarcophagus that is meant to protect humanity is scarred and breached, heightening the risk of another devastating nuclear catastrophe. The occupation and shelling of nuclear facilities, including at Chernobyl and Zaporizhzhia, has set a dangerous precedent in modern warfare, turning nuclear facilities into potential weapons of mass destruction.
Since the beginning of the war, CCI have been advocating for all nuclear facilities to be deemed ‘No War Zones’ and for World Leaders to invoke the Hague Convention which defines any attack on a nuclear facility to be a ‘war crime’.
“The effects of Fukushima and Chernobyl are going to echo across generations. We must do everything in our power to stop adding to this deathly list of nuclear disasters. When are we going to learn from past mistakes?” Roche concluded.
