Radiation leak essay

At the time of the disaster, the government spokesman in Japan said the radiation levels at areas around the plant reached levels that is high enough to SSE a health risk on people. 2 Although it was only a severe situation for people around the area at the time, it is now not only people in Japan that are in danger.

The situation has worsened as the radiation is currently spreading through the Pacific Ocean, posing health risks globally to people. The international reaction to the nuclear disaster has been varying and widespread. The director of Intergovernmental agency called International Atomic Energy Agency (I. E.) responded to the disaster that it “ caused deep public anxiety throughout the world and damaged confidence in nuclear power. 3 On the other hand, the anti-nuclear groups have been protesting stronger after the disaster.

In Germany, more than 200, 000 people took part in the anti-nuclear protest calling for all of Germany’s seventeen nuclear power plants to be shut down in the light in the nuclear breakdown in Japan with the slogan “ Fuchsia is a warning-? close all nuclear plants. 4 As we can see from the international reactions, the radiation leak at present is more than a nation crisis. It became a crisis that the world has to be alerted and seek solutions together. International System Level Analysis As we look at the international system level, the radiation leak affects the world both politically and economically. Since Japan holds moderate political and economic force in the world, it can be said that the impact of the radiation leak affects the world. Japan is a member of several organizations and maintains healthy foreign relations.

Furthermore, it has close relationships with the United States both in the economy and military, and is also a member of United Nations. 5 Since Japan is involved in the world politics, conceivably they can also influence it. The economy of Japan is significant as it is ranked as the second largest developed economy in the world. 6 Their main industries include automobile and electronic goods, which they export them to many countries around the world.

Even though the popularity of the Japan-made products has decreased recently, they dominated the automobile and electronic markets in the sass. Thus, strong economy allows them to have a high standard of living. From analyzing the political power and economical power, Japan is a core country. The characteristics of a core country can be found in Japan as they eve general political stability, are highly industrialized, and have relatively high standard of living. Japan is not relatively dominant but imposes a great influence politically and economically in the operations of world system. Since this is true, it is credible to say that the nuclear disaster that happened in Japan influences the world as the whole.

As mentioned earlier, the international reaction to the disaster is widespread. The anti-nuclear protest in Germany also had a influence in their politics as it happened on the eve of state elections where criticism of Chancellor Angel Marker’s nuclear policies had already given her opposition the edge. 4 This protest occurred weeks after the nuclear disaster in Japan, which shows that it had an influence on the protestors that eventually affected the politics in Germany. Not only in Germany, but there has been many responses towards the radiation leak around the world. South Korea, located near Japan, has been highly affected by the radiation leak both politically and economically. The people in South Korea no longer trusts seafood to be edible since the radiation has spread through the ocean.

In result, the food industry in South Korea has significantly fallen, affecting many local sellers to have hard times being profitable. Also, many countries including China have already stopped importing several goods that was made in Fuchsia, Japan. However, South Korea still imports goods from Japan that could have been affected by the radiation. This caused to elevate complaints and concerns from the people to the government of South Korea.

For the reason that Japan is a core country that has influence in the world system, it has affected other countries both politically and economically. State Level Analysis The two geographic factors of Japan that contribute to the reason why the radiation leak is an ongoing problem are that Japan is an island nation bordering the Pacific Ocean to the east and that several continental plates meet in the region where Japan is located, causing frequent earthquakes. Fuchsia, where the nuclear power plants are sited, is located on the eastern region of Japan. Since it is very near the shore, it quickly contaminated the water on the grounds and eventually spreading into the Pacific Ocean. Recently, it was reported that the tuna found in California had a radiation level that is exceedingly harmful if consumed.

Over the years, the contamination has spread over the Pacific Ocean all the way across to the United States. Assuming that it would continue to spread, it is only a matter of time that it contaminates all the oceans on Earth. The fact that the Japan is located in the region where there is a frequent earthquake makes it to watch out for another radiation leak. Although Japan had shut down all the nuclear power plants after the leak, they had started to reopen them again. With Japan having numerous nuclear rower plants and natural disasters being inevitable, it may be possible that they could be another nuclear disaster. To look closer into Japan’s moral and cultural dimensions, Wa is a Japanese cultural concept that implies a peaceful unity and conformity within a social group which requires an attitude of cooperation and recognition of social roles. In English; Wa is usually translated as harmony. On account of the culture of Wa, Japanese people tend to prefer mediated compromises as opposed to clear resolutions to disputes.

From a government standpoint, it can be interpreted as being free of accessibility for the substantive result, thus may be used as a mechanism by which government officials can exercise authority while minimizing the responsibility. 9 In relations to the nuclear disaster, the Japanese government seems to be utilizing the culture of Wa to its advantage. From March 2011 to now, the Japanese government has taken little responsibility on this disaster.

Even the Japanese media focused on the facility to blame and there were no immediate government actions to resolve this problem. Since the leakage, the government has been promoting that the food reduces produced in Fuchsia are safe to consume. Although it is government’s duty to ensure people’s safety, burying the truth is an incorrect way.

After two years of no response, the government finally announced recently that it will intervene directly in resolving the problem. However, it stepped in with no solutions, resulting to open up to the world to seek for help and advice. Individual Level Analysis Shinto Abe, the current Prime Minister, also served as the Prime Minister of Japan in 2006 as the country’s first prime minister to have been born after World War II and he youngest since the war. Abe is viewed as a right-wing nationalist, meaning he supports social hierarchy or social inequality.

11 Moreover, it has created tensions with China and South Korea as the long history between them remains unsettled. Abe is also a part of a conservative party, the Liberal Democratic Party, which seeks to strengthen ties with the United States. During his first term as the Prime Minister of Japan, although Abe promised to support the country’s pension and health-insurance systems, his government soon became entangled in a series of public gaffes and financial scandals. L It led to him resign in 2007, only about eight months since he became the Prime Minister. However, he was appointed back in office in 2012. When he came back, it was a year after the nuclear disaster had happened. Instead of focusing on resolving the issue, Abe quickly launched an ambitious economic program, “ Bionics”, which intended to stimulated Japanese economy.

This program “ included measures such as increasing the inflation rate, allowing the value of the yen to fall against the U. S. Dollar and other foreign currencies, and increasing government spending on major public-works projects. 11 It may be a proper strategy for the country to enhance the economy, but Abe has shown his right-wing nationalist side of him by ignoring the imminent problem of the radiation leakage. Due to his ignorance, people who reside in the area have been heavily affected by the radiation and are starting to see the defects caused by the radiation. As the Prime Minister of Japan, Abe seems to lack the ability to see the country in the long-run.

Several researchers, critics, and media have stated that if Japan does not have a clear solution, the country will cease to exist. Although we are talking about hundreds of years later, Abe failed to engage in the problem right away. In addition, since he has been unsuccessful in reforming the economy due to financial scandals during his first term, the “ Bionics” seems to be unreliable for Japan to maintain the international power. What We Need to Know About the Radiation Leak The Japanese newspaper Assai Shimming reported that the Tokyo Electric Power Plant (TEPEE) estimated that since the nuclear disaster in March 2011, between 20 trillion and 40 trillion Becquerel’s (a SSL-unit of radioactivity) of radioactive tritium have cake into the ocean.

12 It is complex subject to see how much of that will directly have an effect on living tissues since they are measured differently. However, what is important is that there is still contaminated water that is being release into the ocean from the nuclear power plant every day. As mentioned earlier, once anything gets into the ocean, it is only a matter of time that it spreads to an international problem. There has been a series of strange animal deaths recently along the West Coast that have been washing up on the shore, as well as, animals observed along the Alaska coastline being found to have major fur loss and open sore, both of which are indicative of radiation poisoning. 13 As the radiation poisoning in the sea life is apparent, it is notable to see how it has already started to spread on the land. Furthermore, “ the scientific reports claim radioactive water will continue to impact the U. S.

West Coast for many years to come, potentially doubling in strength over the next five or six years. “ 13 Although the focus is on the Pacific Ocean due to the geography of Japan, it is not far away that it will spread to other oceans of the world. To reiterate the importance of geography features of Japan as mentioned in the state level analysis, the fact that Japan is an island country where frequent earthquakes occur makes the possibility of another radiation leak inevitable. Furthermore, the radiation leak is not only increasing environmental and health problems, but also can lead to political and economical disputes across the world.

This is possible due to the fact that Japan is a core country that has influence on the world system. What Needs to be Done The two that is most responsible for the incident has been lagging their liability until now. Two years late, the Japanese government Just recently has decided to directly engage in resolving the radiation leakage problem while the plant operator TEPEE has repeatedly delayed in attempts to deal with the leakage problems. After the two-year delay, TEPEE created chemical blockades in the ground along the coast to stop any possible leaks and also started to construct an offshore steel wall design to contain contaminated water, but the experts question the effectiveness. 14 The government opened up to the world for help, but no clear-cut solutions has been made. First of all, people need to be told the truth about the radiation from their governments. The statements from the radiation experts and the governments have been contradictory internationally. Even when statistics shows that the radiation level is high that it will eventually impact people, the government keeps on ensuring their safety and that “ everything is going to be alright.

” It is true that nobody wants to live in fear, but it is their right to know if they are exposed to a danger. As mentioned earlier for South Korea, the government needs to stop importing goods from Japan hat may have been exposed to the radiation. Due to the radiation leak incident, the importing goods from Japan have been cheaper, but that should not be the reason to ignore people’s safety. Next, the Japanese government needs to be more passively involved in finding a solution.

Even though it has finally stepped in, it came with no solution. Even worse, the Japanese government officials admitted that radioactive water has been leaking into the ocean every day, at least 300 tons in recent months. 14 The Japanese government seems to only worry about the well-being of their country and not think f this problem as an international crisis. Although even experts think that the leakage is impossible to stop, Japan and the whole world needs to keep looking for a solution. Japan had opened up to seek advice from radiation experts from all over the world, in hopes to find a solution for all of us.

Finally, people in general need to be more aware about this problem and take it seriously. It may be the government’s influence, but many people tend to ignore that the leakage is not an international crisis. It also may be due to the fact that the radiation is invisible and it takes a long period to show the effects. When we look at this problem in short-term, it is easy to be ignorant because it is not something that shows up right away. However, looking from a long-term perspective, we may evolve with defects in our body.

The vegetables grown in Fuchsia area already has shown defects, including a tomato with green hair, a nine-pound cabbage, five-toed radish, and quintuplet eggplants. 1 5 It is possible for us to consume vegetables that contain radiation but does not seem physically mutant. Conclusion From the three different levels of analysis, it can be said that the radiation leak room Japan is an ongoing international problem now. When we view from an international system level, Japan holds moderate political and economical power in the world system, thus a core country.

Since this is true, the national crisis can affect the world as a whole. Looking deeper into the state level, the geographic location of Japan makes the radiation leak inevitable. Shinto Babe’s “ Bionics” that is explained in the individual level analysis suggests that the Prime Minister of Japan is more concerned with the country’s well-being rather than focusing on the international breading of the radiation leak that originated from Japan.