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Five years on, closure has yet to come to Fukushima parents

34 Comments
By Kiyoshi Takenaka

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34 Comments
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Mr.Ueno, how can you consider yourself like the worst parent ever? I think you are a beautiful person who did his best to save his family. These people faced a true nightmare, and they are so strong. I admire them.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

If only the environmental prediction from SPEEDI were utilized instead of being put aside maybe the loss of life would not have been so great a number. This is heart wrenching.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

what does environmental prediction from SPEED have to do with a 9.0 earthquake and 20M high wave? This was an act of nature and the loss was nothing less than an act of nature and nothing short. The loss occurred due to many attributes, i.e. bad decisions, couldn't get out, not enough time, inaccurate information in light of circumstances, and so forth but none attributed to environment. If there is cause for blame some of it should be on the government as they would not allow the Americans to assist within 30 minutes who had ships and personnel in the area to immediately help but Hatayoma and company could not save face after the Okinawa and anti-US support fiasco.

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

Mr.Ueno, how can you consider yourself like the worst parent ever? I think you are a beautiful person who did his best to save his family. These people faced a true nightmare, and they are so strong. I admire them

I'll second that. Mr Ueno, you didn't fail your family. It was the government that has done that. You are brave in a way I hope to never have to know

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I never heard of SPEED.

Yesterday on tv was a special program about the tsunami.

They showed a whole bunch of stones with carvings in them warning of not building below the stones. Money hungry greed caused those stones with their historical warnings to be ignored. They govt. should be held accountable.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

SPEEDI Network is the advanced prediction system connected to every Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. It combines Information from the JMA, IEEE and other networks to predict and give advanced warning of earthquake and tsunami events. SPEEDI predicted the the earthquake, tsunami and meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant as well as which direction the radiation would flow thereafter.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Yes, this is a tragic article, but I fear it only being used to create sympathy for those responsible for the meltdowns and fallout. I'm sure there are hundreds, if not thousands of parents all along the north-east coast of Japan who are suffering the same situation. Why just focus on one father in the radiation zone? The real tragedy is, this poor guy has to risk his own life by going into the irradiated zone to find the bodies of his family. Will he be eligible for compensation when he is diagnosed with cancer from his exposure? Of course he won't! TEPCO has admitted the meltdowns were a man-made disaster and their executives were acquitted by the industrial courts. There are currently three executives being prosecuted by a group of citizens and being lead by a bulldog lawyer, but I doubt if there will be severe penalties for these culprits.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

“My highest duty as a parent was to protect my children, which I failed to fulfill. That makes me the worst parent, and I have to apologise to them”

Who put these onions here? :(

The only people that have to apologize is the one running TEPCO and the country.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

I think that dealing with death is one of the hardest things we will ever do.

Loss of loved ones is something that we sometimes never really get over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOZ9Qx0jCBU

1 ( +1 / -0 )

This man is very brave for all he endured. Hat off to him and hope he find peace.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Utrack: "SPEEDI predicted.." = should have predicted.

Apparently it was switched off.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The information from SPEEDI Network was so horrible they did turn it off thinking it had malfunctioned. Pity it was not allowed to fully predict the events following the tsunami and subsequent meltdowns.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Utrack... 19000 died in the earthquake and tsunami. This article is about those victims or the families of those victims. It's not about the nuclear accident (number of fatalities??), he's searching for his daughter in areas contaminated by the nuclear leak but she did not die as a result of the nuclear incident.

19000 died as a result of the earthquake and tsunami and as we approach the 5th anniversary it's important that we remember that.

I have nothing but sympathy for those who lost their families that day.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

Very sad story, and my heart goes out to this man, who lost his family, as it does for others. I also respect him for staying there and searching despite the limits thanks to the criminals at TEPCO and in government.

BUT: “In Asia, there is a strong belief that one’s spirit stays with the body and they are not separated,"

Hogwash! This is all individual belief. I mean, there are still loved ones trying to verify the remains of American WWII troops in jungles on islands in the Pacific, right? also to bring people closure and to say a proper goodbye.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Klaudsworth. Are we now saying that TEPCO caused the tsunami? Or are we saying that it's only in Fukushima where victims are still missing?

-7 ( +2 / -9 )

Mr. Ueno, you are so inspirational! My hat's definitely off to you.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Well based on the negative ratings I've received I can only assume that we ARE blaming TEPCO for the earthquake and tsunami on March 11. Or maybe we're blaming her death on TEPCO.

It's dreadful that he has to go through this. But Tepco didn't cause his daughter to die and those of you suggest as Klaudsworth, Utrack etc really need to understand that.

It's dreadfully sad that there are numerous families along the Pacific Coast who are still looking for loved ones. But its wholly wrong to blame TEPCO for their loss.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

SPEEDI does not and DID NOT predict any earthquake, tsunami or meltdown. It predicts the dispersion pattern of radionuclides released from a nuclear facility based on geography, meteorological and radiation data.

It would not and could not have given any advanced warning about the timing or magnitude of the earthquake or tsunami. And thus would not and could not have reduced the tragic lose of life from the March 11th 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Mike, SPEEDI can only make an advanced prediction from all relevant data imput into its program. The earthquake is relevant and so was the tsunami. The advanced predictions from SPEEDI was not utilized.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2012/08/11/editorials/speedi-report-deepens-suspicions/

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Utrack, obviously a computer system can only make predictions if it is given all relevant data.

But someone claimed that SPEEDI:

SPEEDI predicted the the earthquake, tsunami and meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

And that claim is patently false. SPEEDI does NOT predict earthquakes. SPEEDI does NOT predict tsunamis. SPEEDI does NOT predict meltdowns.

All SPEEDI does is predict the airborne dispersal pattern and fallout/deposition pattern of radionuclides after a nuclear accident.

The earthquake and tsunami happened BEFORE the nuclear accident and thus were NOT relevant. They were also NOT data that SPEEDI uses or even can use. It uses location and amounts of radionuclides released, known geographical features, wind direction and speed, precipitation and other meteorological data.

And I know the data from SPEEDI was not used, that isn't a point of contention.

The predications from SPEEDI should have been used, but they wouldn't have prevented a single death from the earthquake or tsunami because those deaths had already occurred before there was any radionuclide release. Thus they occurred BEFORE SPEEDI had anything to predict.

SPEEDI's predictions could and should have been used to give evacuation routes that would avoid the worst contamination and it could have allowed for prioritizing highly contaminated areas to be evacuated first, but it could not have made any difference in the actual earthquake or tsunami as those events are not parts of its ability either as input or output.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Mike, Seismologists at JMA do not know their field you are saying... The information from JMA and IEEE goes directly to SPEEDI. There are advanced warning systems input being fed to SPEEDI all the time.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

No, I think what Mike’s saying is that SPEEDI can not predict earthquakes and can’t predict tsunamis.

I’m not sure if you were in Japan on March 11, 2011. But it’s worth remembering that at 2:46 pm and continuing for a further five minutes, there was a massive earthquake that was felt as far away as Korea. This led to a massive tsunami that made landfall about 45 minutes later. Once the earthquake happened, there were tsunami warning sirens along the Pacific Coast. As a result of this earthquake and tsunami 19,000 people lost their lives.

Can you explain how SPEEDI could have prevented this?

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

As I have stated previously the SPEEDI NETWORK is connected to various agencies who do have advanced warning systems. This information from singular agencies is then input into the SPEEDI NETWORK which is connected to all nuclear power plants. The SPEEDI predictions gives you the full picture of events and the likely outcome.. This is quite genius really.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

So what you're saying is that no, SPEEDI could not have predicted the earthquake or tsunami that killed 19000 people.

19000 people died. And they did not die because of any nuclear accident.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Utrack, it is really simple. SPEEDI predicts the spread of radionuclides from their point of release based on geography and meteorological data. Unlike the claim that

SPEEDI predicted the the earthquake, tsunami and meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Which is patently false.

I don't know what capabilities JMA and/or IEEE have in predicting earthquakes and tsunamis. But I do know that neither one is SPEEDI and that their data is NOT an input to SPEEDI as earthquakes and tsunamis are not geographic or meteorological data.

JMA's and/or IEEE's detection/predicition of an earthquake and the resulting tsunami could be used by the people operating SPEEDI to run a possible scenario for nuclear facilities in the effected areas. But SPEEDI doesn't predict earthquakes, it doesn't predict tsunamis, it doesn't predict meltdowns. And anyone claiming that it does any of those things is patently wrong and should retract their false claims.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Citizenry of Japan receive advanced warning all the time there are programs for this. ...

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Citizenry of Japan receive advanced warning all the time there are programs for this. ...

Didn't say there weren't. But SPEEDI isn't a program to give advance warning of earthquakes, or tsunamis or meltdowns. Claiming that it is isn't true and the erroneous statement should be corrected

2 ( +2 / -0 )

You should go to the SPEEDI NETWORK website to see the capability of this program then make your statements

0 ( +1 / -1 )

SPEEDI DOES NOT predict earthquakes. It DOES NOT predict tsunamis.

The ap that is available for Japanese citizens DOES NOT predict earthquakes but informs that one is on the way because the waves have been felt by censors. On March 11 people of the Tohoku coast would have had seconds if that, warning of an earthquake. They would have had no extra warning of the tsunami.

You need to understand what happened on March 11 and clearly a you ever here is nuclear. Which didn't kill 19000 people.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

You should go to the SPEEDI NETWORK website to see the capability of this program then make your statements

I have been to their website.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

As another poster stated the SPEEDI NETWORK was turned off... This was before the actual nuclear meltdowns... If everything had already happened why turn the SPEEDI NETWORK off.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Well. ...even if it was turned off...had it been turned on it wouldn't have predicted the earthquake or the tsunami because it's not designed to do that. My kettle was also turned off at the time. That also isn't capable of predicting earthquakes or tsunamis.

19000 people did not die because my kettle was turned off. Just like 1900p people haven't died because SPEEDI was allegedly turned off. Though I've seen no evidence to suggest it was actually off. Either way if it was on or off, 19000 people would still have died.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

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