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Disquiet on Hokkaido

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Disquiet on Hokkaido

16.03.2011

The situation in Japan remains very difficult. Japanese nuclear specialists still have not managed to cool the storage containers of spent radioactive fuel at reactor 4 of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Evacuations continue for everyone within a 20 km radius of the power plant. The number of dead and missing has exceeded 10,000. There is no panic, but the population is preparing from more trials to come, stocking up on water, medication and products. According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no Russian citizens are known to have been harmed by the catastrophes. At present the atmospheric conditions for the Russian Far East are favorable, and reports of elevated levels of radiation in coastal region have proven false. None the less, the situation remains tense, including on the island of Hokkaido, where many Russians live.

On Tuesday we spoke with Sergei Ilin, director of the Russian Center in the city of Hakodate, about the present situation in the area.

“Our situation is tough. But on Hokkaido things are not that bad. In the city of Hakodate only one death was reported, as we are located far to the north,” Sergei Ilin said. “Further to the south, on the island of Honshu, there is enormous devastation. Right now in Japan the level of radiation is 40 times higher than normal. But the threat of radiation to Hakodate is not very high as the cloud is being blown to the south. But over the next month new quakes are expected, so we are facing new trials.”

Earthquakes continue throughout Japan. The strongest movements reached 6 points on the Richter scale today in the central prefecture. To the north things are somewhat better. “Right now there aren’t any,” Ilin said. “There were on Friday and Saturday, but all is calm now.”

At present no classes are being held at the Russian Center or the branch of the Far East State University as this is a time of vacation.

“On Saturday the students were let out for vacation,” the director of the center said. “And at the Russian Center we geld a moment of silence in honor of the victims. Yesterday our evening students completed their courses, and we also held a moment of silence with them.”

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Общество
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