How bad are things in Japan?

You have probably read endless media reports about the devastation in Japan from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, but I reached out to one of my Japanese friends of over 20 years, and below is his report:

“Regarding the situation here, besides the difficulties of getting back to normal including, finding missing people(dead bodies) in the disaster area, we are so  concerned about the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, even though the workers are still struggling to stop releasing radiation from the plant.

They report that some radioactive materials are leaking into the sea as they spray water to cool down the reactors. Though the amount has not been so serious yet still some amount of radioactive isoltopes are already in the environment. I read that a Russian scientist says the situation here is equivalent to the level 6 similar to the disaster in Russian Chernobyl plant more than twenty years ago. I wonder if it is really so.

Now I say that Tokyo is currently OK, as it is 200 km away from the site. However, because of power shortage as a result of nonfunctional power plants, the train services are restricted in some part of Metropolitan Tokyo. On top of that, we have rotational blackouts, though they not do it everyday, thanks to people’s conservation efforts. They predict that it would be done more often in the coming summer, as it is the season we use much electricity for air-conditioning. I guess it will cause serious problems as it will surely affect our economy.  Do you recall from your time in Japan how humid summers can be and without air-conditioning no one would like to be inside our tiny restaurants and shops?

Food supply is getting better. The news that vegetables and milk are contaminated with radiation has confused us all. Some scientists say the government’s safety standards are too strict.   Restarting of many factories of major manufacturing companies will be accelerated in April, which may makes worse the power shortage, though.

I am still a bit scared of possibility of another quake and the impact on our economy.”