UUSC Joins UUA in Responding to Japan Disaster

UUSC expresses utmost solidarity and sympathy with the people of Japan as they face the triple disaster of an earthquake, a tsunami, and the risk of nuclear meltdowns in four plants. The devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit four prefectures (districts) in northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, caused a severe tsunami and has seriously endangered nuclear plants in the area. While Japan's disaster-relief capacity is strong, UUSC is joining with the Unitarian Universalist Association to respond to this humanitarian crisis through the new UUA-UUSC Japan Relief Fund.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan has destroyed villages, towns, ports, and infrastructure. Over 2 million people in the north have no electricity in freezing temperatures, more than 1.4 million have no water, and thousands are homeless. Authorities are predicting a death toll of over 10,000, according to the Reuters news agency. The damage to communication and roads is so severe that the government has not been able to get to all affected areas. Japan has been a world leader in infrastructure and training to reduce risk in disasters, but in this case, the combined severity of the earthquake and speed of the tsunami has proven lethal.

The status of the third threat in this disaster — nuclear meltdown — is still unclear. Japan relies heavily on nuclear energy. According to the Associated Press (AP), the country derives 34 percent of their electricity from their 55 nuclear power plants. Four power plants seem to be affected by the earthquake, Fukushimi Daini, Fukushimi Daiichi, Onagawa, and Takai Dai-Ni. Staff people in these plants are all trying to cool down the nuclear reactors to prevent meltdowns. The AP reports that there have been two explosions at Fukushimi Daiichi, one on Saturday, March 12, and one on Sunday, March 13. Both occurred as part of the cooling process, which includes letting seawater in to control the temperatures of the nuclear reactors' cores and avoid complete meltdowns.

The Japanese government insists that radiation has not reached dangerous levels, but there are conflicting reports of how much radiation has actually escaped. The Japanese government is obviously trying to avoid major panic. Unlike Chernobyl, the Japanese plants have containment shells around them, and according to the AP article, "The nuclear safety agency rates Japan currently as a 4 on the 1 to 7 International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, less serious than Three Mile Island, a 5, and Chernobyl at 7." The Japanese government has evacuated more than 480,000 people and tested over 1,600 people for radiation.

The United States has sent ships and warplanes for the rescue effort, but they have moved farther offshore because they are concerned about dangerous levels of radiation. Terrible as the earthquake and tsunami are, the dangers of a nuclear meltdown are even greater; scientists and technicians in the nuclear plants are working around the clock to prevent that. Japan's deployment of their disaster-response infrastructure has been impressive by any measurement, but especially so in this triple-threat situation. For ongoing information about the evolving situation, visit allthingsnuclear.org from the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Unitarian Universalists have long maintained close ties with progressive Japanese religious groups, often under the banner of the International Association for Religious Freedom (IARF) but independently as well. There is, for example, a Universalist Church made up of Japanese members in Tokyo. Progressive Buddhist and Shinto groups have often hosted visiting American Unitarian Universalists and worked closely on projects with the UUA and individual UU congregations. These historic ties make our concern for Japan especially acute. The UUA's long-term partners in Japan — which include Rissho Kosei-kai, Tsubaki Grand Shrine, the Konko Church of Izuo, the Tokyo Dojin Church, and the Japan Chapter of the IARF — are all discerning the specific efforts they will be taking to support recovery work.

UUSC is pleased to join with the UUA in responding to the disaster through the new UUA-UUSC Japan Relief Fund. The UUA and UUSC will walk with partners on the ground in Japan in the directions that are ultimately chosen and will make all appropriate decisions about the distribution of the funds. Visit the UUA's website for more information and donate to the UUA-UUSC Japan Relief Fund now.