Nuclear | GlobalPost

After the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in Japan earlier this year, Germany, Switzerland and Italy voted against nuclear power.

Tsunekazu Takeda, the Japan Olympic Committee chief, said he wants the 2020 Summer Games to be a “symbol of recovery” for Japan.

OTAMA, Japan — Earlier this week, a coalition of civic groups petitioned for the evacuation of children and pregnant women from radiation hot spots outside the exclusion zone.

FUKUSHIMA — Even areas that have lower radiation readings than many of the world’s major cities, are finding everything from their goods to their tourist spots, shunned.

KYUBUN, Japan — Radiation fears have dealt a blow to Japan's $2.4 billion business in seafood exports. Fishermen are hard hit.

The nuclear catastrophe aside, there is actually a tale of success to be told in the wake of Japan's tsunami.

At least according to Malka Older, an aid worker with Mercy Corps.

"What they got wrong on nuclear, they got right on natural disaster," Older said in a recent interview.

Older, who previously worked in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami, has been leading relief efforts for Mercy Corps in four affected Japanese towns in Iwate prefecture: Minamisanriku, Kessennuma, Rikuzentakata and Ofunato.

GlobalPost sat down with her while she was home in Boston on leave this week. Here is what she had to say about how the Japanese government churns out prefab houses, the surprising things they put inside them and why Japan's love of hand sanitizer is a blessing in disguise.

What are the stories that aren't being told about what's going on in Japan?

What struck me the most was how well prepared Japan was for the earthquake and tsunami. It obviously wasn't enough, especially in terms of the nuclear disaster, but what they did to prepare for the earthquake and tsunami worked. The scale, the number of people who died is terrible [about 15,000 are confirmed dead, with another 8,000 missing and presumed so] but it was far fewer than it might have been.

It's tricky to compare disasters, but if you look at the earthquake in Aceh [Indonesia] in 2004, it was comparable to the one in Japan in terms of magnitude and its proximity to populated areas. The death toll there was 170,000. If you take in the total areas affected in Asia and elsewhere, it's more like 230,000.

While Fukushima city is outside the government’s 12-mile no-go zone around the nuclear plant, many residents are worried about radiation exposure.

ISHINOMAKI — The word "furusato," or "hometown," has a special meaning for those who live in small villages in rural Japan.

BOSTON — Evidence of terror ties to the Pakistani government raises questions about the world’s fastest growing nuclear arsenal.

It is now nearly three months to the day after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, and officials still have no idea the extent of the damage.

On Monday, Japan more than doubled its initial estimate of the radiation released at Fukushima, and plant operator TEPCO's shares dropped to a new low.

Today, Japan officials said they are considering evacuating more towns thought to be affected by radiation.

There are four new "hot spots" that have been designated as exceeding the maximum levels of radiation, as reported by the Wall Street Journal. They are located northwest of the damaged plant in Fukushima, outside the original 19-mile evacuation zone.

"The government would like to come up with the safest and most conservative possible steps to deal with the situation, with residents' health in mind," Tetsuro Fukuyama, the deputy chief cabinet secretary, said Thursday.

It seems the news gets worse.

Molten nuclear fuel in three reactors at the plant is likely to have experienced a "melt through," according to The Guardian, which means the fuel rods not only melted but also breached the vessels in which they were contained.

Meanwhile, there is a severe energy shortage on the horizon that could have far-reaching effects on industry in Japan.

Reactors are being shut off one by one, and if Japan has its way, all 54 of its current reactors may be non-functioning by April of next year. Analysts warn that this would prompt many industries to relocate rather than face a long-term power shortage, Reuters reported.

If that's the case, then the impact on the economy in Japan would be — you guessed it — worse than originally thought.

But it is a bunny without ears — that is, an earless bunny — born near the affected plant has done more to raise radiation fears in this Asia editor than the whole barrage of bad news that came before.

Here he is in this video, sans ears but not entirely un-cute:

France to invest 1 billion euros in nuclear energy, going against the tide in Europe

Tokyo's Summer Olympics bid to include quake-hit areas

Japan worries about radiation and children's health

Fukushima: suffering the stigma of nuclear crisis

Radioactive sushi fear hits markets

Japan tsunami: the untold success story

Japan to give radiation meters to children living near Fukushima plant

Japan: Tsunami survivors stay put despite hardships

Is Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal vulnerable to terrorists?

Japan crisis: the second wave