TOKYO, March 12, 2021—The hosting of the Tokyo Olympic games, postponed by one year for the COVID-19 pandemic, remains in limbo for continuing infection cases in Japan, compounded by radioation exposure concerns renewed by scientists and NGOs about the Fukushima nuclear power plant. That itself may not be new but International Olympic Committee chair Thomas Bach, who was re-elected March 11, ruffled the sentiment of many Japanese who are lukewarm to hosting the games in July by commenting that the IOC would secure Chinese-manufactured COVID-19 vaccines to be administered to athletes arriving in Japan this summer.
Bach said the IOC would purchase Chinese vaccines for athletes playing in Tokyo and Beijing winter games later this year. The Chinese Olympic Committee, Bach said, offered to provide Chinese vaccines as additional quantities to vaccines to be secured by Japan for athletes participating in the two games and that the IOC would foot the bill.
Bach’s remarks about the Chinese vaccines drew immediate response in Japan: Japanese Olympics minister Tamayo Marukawa told reporters March 12 that the Japanese government had not been informed by the IOC about the Chinese vaccine offer or that Tokyo made proposals to use Chinese vaccines to the IOC nor China. She also said that Chinese manufacturers have not applied for Japanese government approval for Chinese vaccines. She reiterated Japan’s ground rules for athletes that in order to take part in the Tokyo games, vaccinations are not predicated.
Bach’s remarks to use Chinese vaccines at the Tokyo games amounted to an affront to the Japanese public already frustrated about Japanese pharmas’ inability to develop COVID vaccines and came when the Japanese economy is being farther distanced by China as a third-largest economy.
On top of this humiliation, many foreign media entities have refreshed their concerns about radiation from Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi newclear power pstationt, casting much skepticisms to the Japanesse government and TEPCO assertions that radioactive emissions are controled. Some news outlets said the Fukushima areas where the Olympic torch relay is scheduled as the key routes – the Tokyo games’ key agenda is Fukushima reconstruction and human diversity – poses radiation risks to athletes and partcipants. That’s enough to make the Japanese un-supporting to host the games.
On February 28, TEPCO announced that it had succeeded in remotely pulling out lthe ast six of the 566 nuclear fuel rods used in the Fukushima Daiichi’s third nuclear power plant from the spent power rod pool, and stored them in what is called the rack. The third plant developed hydrogen explosions, along with the first and second plants of the Daiichi station on March 11.
The TEPCO operation might have been timed to the 10th memorial of the March 11, 2011 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear meltdown as a show of improvements of Fukushima radiation decontamination.
But contrary to what might have been intended by the Japanese government and TEPCO, local media outlet articles are expressing fresh doubts about anything to do about Fukushima and nuclear power. Kahoku Shimpo newspaper, which commands the largest circulation in the northern Japan region, has been running series of comprehensive articles about nuclear power. Its articles sharply criticized TEPCO CEO Tomoaki Kobayakawa for not visiting Fukushima on March 11 while asking where Fukushima Daiichi nuclear waste goes (Nowhere to go!).
The disasterous Fukushima Daiichi aftermath reality is doesn’t end there: Greenpeace’s March 9 report said radioactive levels in most Fukushima province areas where the Japanese government said have completed decontamination work were ‘highly above’ the government’s maximum safe level of 0.23 micro siebelt per hour and that in areas where the government directly performs decontamination work, ‘only 15 percent’ has been completed.
‘The 7/10th of Fukushima landmass is mountains and forests, and this means that most mountains and forests have not been decontaminated (for difficulty to decontaminate),’ the report said. Because of this government inaction, radioactive substances are seeping into underwater, rivers and lakes and ponds, impacting fauna and flora, it said.
And along major traffic arteries, including Route 4, 6 and Joban and Tohoku Expressways, massive amounts of big black plastic bags containing radioactive waste are stored with no possibility or schedule for disposal. These routes are going to be where Olympic torch runners will run from March 25. Will they run? Some registered runners have begged off.
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