Field Report: Discover pragmatic examples of customer benefits
Alternatives #26: When the unthinkable happens - Fukushima in review
Three AREVA employees working with Planète Urgence
Project Profile Flamanville 3 - October 2011
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MOX fuel transport from Europe to Japan - guide
AREVA is mobilizing its forces to provide support to Japan (french only)
AREVA strengthens its footing in Japan
AREVA is mobilized for Japan
AREVA mobilizes for Japan
Japan: AREVA mobilizing to provide aid to Japan
Following the March 11 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan, AREVA mobilized to provide support to residents of the impacted areas and offer technical assistance to its customer TEPCO.
The group immediately made a donation of one million euros to the Red Cross for disaster aid.
In addition to the donation to the Red Cross, AREVA has chartered several airplanes filled with emergency aid consisting of 6,870 blankets and 972,000 FFP2 facemasks as well as 3 environmental monitoring trucks. They also carried radiation detectors, protective coveralls, 10 pumps, 5 generators and 5 compressors supplied by EDF. Drugs, 10,000 cans of fruit from Auchan and more than 100,000 bottles of St Amand mineral water were also included in the 150-ton air cargo shipment.
AREVA employees in France, Germany and the USA can help by making a donation to the Red Cross, which will channel all of the funds to the Japanese Red Cross.
Japan is rebuilding
The Tohoku region in Northeastern Japan is rebuilding. While construction work is progressing at a fast clip, the psychological damage takes much longer to heal. The Japanese Red Cross Society remains mobilized on both fronts, as it tries to help survivors return to a normal life.
“We will need at least five years to rebuild” says Tadateru Konoe, Chairman of the Japanese Red Cross Society. “But we will probably need much more time for the psychological scars to heal.” His assessment is severe: the work still to be done is colossal.
After the emergency phase, one of the priorities for Japanese Red Cross Society volunteers was clearly to restore some feeling of normalcy in the lives of people who had often lost their loved ones, their homes and their livelihood.
Key figures
- As of the end of August, the Japanese police reported 15,741 people dead and 4,467 people missing.
- Nearly 8,650 people are still living in evacuation centers (gymnasiums, schools and community centers), while more than 40,355 people have moved into temporary housing.
- As of the end of August, more than 48,600 prefabricated houses had been built out of the 52,348 planned.
- The Japanese Red Cross Society supplied household appliance kits (TVs, refrigerators, microwave ovens, electric kettles, washing machines and pressure cookers) to 82,000 displaced families; the goal is to supply kits to 110,000 families.
- By the end of August, the Japanese Red Cross Society had received more than 2.5 billion euros in donations from the Japanese public.
Francis Markus / IFRC
While most of the displaced persons have been relocated to prefabricated, furnished houses (See key figures box), 8,000 victims in the three prefectures closest to the Fukushima nuclear power plant are still living in evacuation centers.
Differents initatives on the ground
Recreating social links
Nobuyuki Kobayashi / Japanese Red Cross
The first priority was to provide lodging to the victims. Still, it is not easy to live in sparsely furnished houses in a town where one doesn’t know one’s neighbors. The feeling is generally one of isolation.
This is why it is important now is to recreate social bonds and develop social activities to facilitate the integration of these uprooted people.
To give a few examples, the national society set up free bus service to facilitate access to shops, schools and other essential services. It also provided computers to Fukushima children who are not allowed to play outside for safety reasons.
Reinstating access to healthcare: a vital challenge
Masaki Kamei / Japanese Red Cross Society
Another challenge is to rehabilitate and rebuild the health infrastructure. In the devastated area, a majority of hospitals and healthcare centers were damaged or destroyed.
Thanks to 380 million euros donated by the Red Cross/Red Crescent network (out of a total of 480 million euros pledged), the Japanese Red Cross Society plans to install several temporary hospitals to relieve existing overcrowded conditions in prefabricated facilities. These temporary hospitals will be used for the next five years, until the government builds permanent healthcare facilities.
In addition, the more than 820 emergency medical personnel deployed over the past six months treated 83,816 patients. These teams have now been replaced by local clinics, a sign that essential healthcare services are now operational.
At the same time, the Japanese Red Cross Society distributed adjustable beds for the elderly requiring special care (673 beds were provided to 115 nursing homes) and medical equipment to 62 health centers.
Providing essential moral support
photo: Giovanni Zambello / IFRC
The psychosocial support program focuses primarily on children, the elderly and vulnerable adults.
In all, 586 counselors provided psychological support to nearly 14,000 people in the three prefectures most strongly affected: Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. Before the disaster, seniors represented a majority of Tohoku’s population.
Many of them experienced the trauma of World War II and showed great fortitude during this new crisis. Nonetheless, their special needs and emotional well-being have not been neglected. They are a key target for essential medical and psychosocial support programs carried out by Japanese Red Cross Society nurses and volunteers.
