Reports out of Japan suggest that leaks of radioactive water are increasing and intensifying out of the Fukushima Nuclear plant that was devastated by the huge 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan on 11th March 2011. This is a long running saga that I have been keeping a close eye on since it occurred two and a half years ago and seeing that it is back in the news it is worth returning back to the Astrology to see how the planets are affecting the situation.
The two charts above (click on them to open them up to full size) shows the date that the Fukushima power plant started operating (on the left) and the transits against that chart on the day of the explosion after the Tsunami had hit. You will see in the natal chart set for 26th March 1971 that there were a very stressful set of aspects here waiting to be activated. The Sun not only was subject to an opposition from Pluto, pretty appropriate actually as Pluto rules nuclear energy, radiation, power and heavy industry but also the Sun was also part of a risky t-square opposed to Uranus and the square focused on Mars in Capricorn sitting very closely to the fixed star Facies, a star which Robson says is extremely responsible for accidents.
At the time of the Tsunami, transiting destructive Pluto was sitting right on that Mars in Capricorn activating that natal t-square and the transiting Nodal axis was making a square aspect to natal Pluto on the commissioning chart. You will also see that transiting Saturn was forming a very disruptive inconjunct aspect to the natal Sun, forcing a change in the operating status of the plant. Transiting Uranus was opposing the natal Pluto a nuclear (Pluto) accident (Uranus) and the explosion came from transiting violent Mars making an inconjunct aspect to Uranus as well.
Moving forward to the present day, you’ll see that transiting Pluto is now back close to Mars and Facies again and next month and it will station within a degree of the red planet and this very difficult fixed star. Transiting Jupiter is bringing an international focus back to Fukushima as it opposes natal Mars and both Pluto and Jupiter are making a square focusing in on unpredictable Uranus. I can see this double square as a escalation of technical problems, in increase in potential radiation and the likelihood of harm and dangerous conditions occurring.
The real story though is via transiting Neptune which is square to the natal Neptune/Jupiter conjunction. Neptune which rules water and contamination and Jupiter which expands is going to be holding this square to this nasty conjunction for a long time to come. Does this mean that the crisis that is slowly developing affecting the environment and seas around the plant is going to get worse and worse? Natal Neptune sits at 2:58 Sagittarius and through October and November this year, Neptune in retrograde will pass over over this degree twice and station at 2:35 Pisces. The Japanese have been pretty good at hiding the true nature of this developing situation, but as is Neptune’s way, nothing can be hidden for ever and the veil coving the extent of the leak is now becoming clear. These two months will open up yet more information about what is happening at Fukushima and this is going to be a time when the present crisis may reach some sort of crescendo.
Progressed aspects when they occur can be several times as powerful as a transiting aspect and I want to focus on just one here against the actual time of the explosion at Fukushima. Right now the progressed Moon is approaching a square aspect to natal Saturn on the explosion chart. In personal charts this aspect can make one feel low, depressed, frustrated and as if you can do nothing to stop a bad situation becoming worse, and those officials in Japan must also be feeling this sense of utter helplessness as the current crisis suddenly becomes far more serious. The peak date for the square is 8th September, however a progressed square is normally effective for at least a couple of months around the peak date.
All in all I think the next 3 months as this progressed square tightens and as transiting Neptune makes a square to it’s own position on the plant’s operational chart is very critical, and during this timescale I think we will realize the true damage of what is occurring on the East coast of Japan. It may well be that a truly horrible environmental disaster that will affect that region for decades is slowly becoming apparent.
