This is just to announce to the indifferent ether that we are still paying attention to the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan.

Today marks the seven-month anniversary of the tsunami, and of the subsequent accident which occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

I thought it might be an appropriate moment to check in on how things are going over there, but what I found on Google regarding the actual progress of stabellization at this late date was…nada.  

There was this piece from the Guardian in September, that recounts how Tokyo Electric actually considered abandoning the plant following the disaster!

In interviews given recently to Japanese news sources,  departing Prime Minister Naoto Kan revealed a near total breakdown in responsibility at Tepco:

“Withdrawing from the plant was out of the question,” he said. “If that had happened, Tokyo would be deserted by now. It was a critical moment for Japan’s survival. It could have led to leaks of dozens of times more radiation than Chernobyl.”

and

Kan demanded an explanation from Tepco’s then president, Masataka Shimizu, but “he never told me anything clearly”

In light of that revelation, and given Vermont Yankee’s own track record of compromised credibility, one can’t but reflect on whether Entergy would cut and run under similar circumstances.

Then, a couple of days ago we learned that thyroid testing of children in Fukushima prefecture has begun.

Despite official insistence that there is no cause for alarm,  many are saying it is too little, too late.  

A 16-year-old girl who took the test had lived in Iitate near the crippled plant, and said she has been worried whether she will be able to give birth to a child in the future.    She expressed displeasure at what she sees as the slow reaction of authorities to residents’ fear of radiation, saying, “I wanted them to do an examination much earlier.”  

While it is not unusual for a celebrity murder to occupy public attention and the news cycle for months on end, there seems to be no equivalent sustained interest in reporting on what is arguably the most catastrophic industrial accident of all time, despite the fact that the story is still unfolding.