Sirens in Japan marked one week since a 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami set off a nuclear emergency that the world has been watching anxiously. The cascading disaster has left approximately 6,900 dead, although other estimates put that number closer to 10,000. Experts have been accusing Japan of downplaying the severity of the problems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant after the quake knocked out power to cooling systems. But Japan's prime minister has acknowledged that his government was initially slow to respond. Now Japan is welcoming U.S. help in stabilizing its overheated, radiation-emitting nuclear complex. Prime Minister Naoto Kan evoked the nation's history of rapid economic growth following World War II, saying "That is how Japan was built” and we will "rebuild Japan from scratch." We get an on-the-ground report from the region. How bad are things at Fukushima and how long will it take to get the reactors under control? What role can the U.S. play to help Japan rebuild?
Guests:
Stu Seidel, NPR's Deputy Managing Editor of News, currently in Tokyo, Japan
Frank Buckley, co-anchor of the KTLA Morning News, who just returned from covering developments in Japan