JAPAN: Employees of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) observe a minute's silence to mark the first anniversary of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami

Record ID: 466139

  • Title: JAPAN: Employees of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) observe a minute's silence to mark the first anniversary of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami
  • Date: 12th March 2012
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (MARCH 11, 2012) (REUTERS) GUARD OUTSIDE HEADQUARTERS OF TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY (TEPCO) SIGN READING IN JAPANESE "TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY" VARIOUS OF PROTESTER SHOUTING INTO MEGAPHONE OUTSIDE TEPCO HQ VARIOUS OF TEPCO EMPLOYEES OBSERVING ONE MINUTE SILENCE AT 1446 JST (0546 GMT) IN FRONT OF SCREEN SHOWING PRESIDENT OF TEPCO, TOSHIO NISHIZAWA, OBSERVING SILENCE IN FUKUSHIMA TO MARK TIME EARTHQUAKE HIT JAPAN NISHIZAWA OBSERVING SILENCE MORE OF EMPLOYEES AND NISHIZAWA NISHIZAWA GIVING SPEECH FROM FUKUSHIMA EMPLOYEE LISTENING TO SPEECH EMPLOYEES BOWING AERIALS ABOVE FUKUSHIMA
  • Embargoed: 27th March 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Japan, Japan
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Disasters,Energy
  • Reuters ID: LVADTYB52S8Y26N7R3JLE88WKY97
  • Story Text: Employees of nuclear plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) observed a minute of silence as protesters gathered outside the power utility's headquarters on Sunday (March 11) to mark the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami which caused meltdowns at its Fukushima Daiichi facility.
    The TEPCO employees were marking the day one year ago when a magnitude 9.0 earthquake unleashed a wall of water that hit Japan's northeast coast, killing nearly 16,000 and leaving nearly 3,300 unaccounted for. The country is still grappling with the human, economic and political costs.
    The tsunami also wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant owned by Tepco, where reactor meltdowns triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
    Authorities have imposed a 20-km (12 mile) no-go zone around the plant and tens of thousands of neighbouring residents may never be allowed back.
    TEPCO, criticised by many for its failure to prepare for the disaster, issued a fresh apology.
    "Each and every member of our company and its group remembers March 11 and will work with our all hearts to solve challenges with safety as our first priority," Tepco President Toshio Nishizawa, who marked the anniversary at the plant, said in a video statement at their memorial from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant.
    Slow progress in drawing up plans for the tsunami-damaged and radiation-contaminated region is deepening the misery of survivors, about 326,000 of whom are still homeless, including 80,000 evacuated from the vicinity of the Fukushima plant.
    While the government declared the reactors had reached "cold shutdown" in December, the country lives under a cloud of anxiety over the long-term health effects of radiation.
    The dismantling of the plant and the clean-up of an area the size of Luxembourg will take decades at an incalculable cost using technologies yet to be developed.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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