Food Focus: The Fukushima Aftermath

The crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactor has left much of the country's core infrastructure shaken. This special report looks at the situation facing Japan's food supply chain and how the country has been affected so far.
In May 2011, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked for nuclear reactors at the Hamaoka plant in the Tokai region to be shut down, following evidence from Japanese scientists that there was an 80% chance an earthquake would hit the area in the next 30 years. 

"If there were a major accident at the Hamaoka nuclear plant, it would have an enormous impact on the entire Japanese society," Kan told reporters in a recent televised news conference.

While there are no plans to shut down any more of Japan's 52 nuclear plants, the country is doing all it can to protect human health and prevent any potential radiation leaks from occurring in the future. The physical damage caused by the Fukushima disaster has been enormous. 

The government estimated on 23 March 2011 that the cost to buildings, roads and other infrastructure was between $180bn and $320bn. Homes, infrastructure and health have been highly affected, if not destroyed, and areas being monitored closely for contamination include forests, crops, fisheries and food safety.

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