97 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant

LOCATION Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan

NEAREST POPULATION HUB Fukushima

SECRECY OVERVIEW Access restricted: site of nuclear disaster in 2011.

In March 2011 a massive earthquake triggered a tsunami that swept along much of the eastern Japanese coast, and was at its highest as it struck the nuclear power plant near the city of Fukushima. Chaos reigned as the authorities struggled to assess exactly what had happened and how it might best be dealt with. The result was the second worst civilian nuclear disaster in history.

Operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Co., Fukushima Dai-ichi power station stands on a 350-hectare (860-acre) plot and consists of six light water reactors. Construction began in 1967 on a site that was originally high above the water line but which was lowered in order for the facility to be anchored on to bedrock (so increasing its resistance to earthquakes). Its reactors came into operation at intervals throughout the 1970s and by the time all six were up and running, Fukushima was one of the largest nuclear power plants in the world.

Fukushima prefecture in eastern Honshu island is largely rural, with striking terrain including spectacular green mountains. The name Fukushima, somewhat touchingly, translates as “Lucky Isle.” Few would claim that it has lived up to its name (dai-ichi, incidentally, means “Number 1”). On March 11, 2011, a powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.6 hit a short distance from the mainland. It was followed by a huge tsunami that swept across Japan’s east coast, leaving 20,000 dead in its wake.

Fukushima Dai-ichi was only designed to withstand waves of up to 6 meters (20 ft), and it has been alleged that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressed concern over this design failing years prior to the disaster. The high waters of March 11 were estimated at 14 meters (46 ft) and found the plant tragically wanting. Fukushima’s essential cooling systems were knocked out and a series of explosions followed, leading to meltdowns in reactors 1, 2 and 3, with an associated release of radiation. It was the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

UP IN SMOKE The scene at Fukushima ten days after a tsunami struck on March 11, 2011. The plume of smoke is emanating from the fourth of the plant’s six reactors. Independent reviews found the Tokyo Electric Power Co. utterly unprepared for an emergency on this scale.

On the International Nuclear Event Scale, the Fukushima event was provisionally given the maximum score of 7—only Chernobyl had ever previously been given this designation. The possible impact on the area around Fukushima was soon realized, and the government proclaimed a 20-kilometer (12.5-mile) no-go area around the plant, later extended to 30 kilometers (19 miles). Police roadblocks continue to enforce the exclusion zone. 160,000 people were forced to evacuate in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. By late 2011, 80,000 remained unable to return to their previous lives, and few had any clear of indication of when they would be able to. Some areas are not expected to be habitable again for at least 20 years. Estimates of long-term casualties are hard to gauge but at least several hundred people suffered exposure to worrying levels of radiation. In addition, concerns about food originating in the area have had devastating consequences for commercial farmers. For example, peaches—one of the prefecture’s most famous products—halved in price in the months following the meltdown.

By the end of 2011, Tokyo Electric Power announced that the plant was in cold shutdown, and it was declared stable on December 16. However, it is expected to take a further ten years to remove fuel and decontaminate the surrounding area. Complete decommissioning of the damaged reactors is predicted to take several decades. What is more, workers on the site are now required to dress head-to-foot in safety gear, a precaution that slows down work and has the unfortunate side effect of causing dozens of cases of serious heatstroke.

As Japan began the struggle back to normality in the aftermath of the tsunami, both Tokyo Power and the Japanese government were subject to domestic and international recriminations for their handling of the tragedy, which severely undermined public confidence. In a bid to make up some lost ground (most of the country’s 54 commercial reactors were shut down amid safety fears after the accident), Tokyo asked the IAEA to establish a constant presence at Fukushima to give an independent seal of approval to its clean-up operation.

The end result is that a once-fruitful region of the country has been left devastated and faces a long battle to reclaim its sense of normality. Areas previously blessed with rich soil are no longer suitable for agriculture, while farmers throughout the wider region are forced to sell their produce at greatly reduced prices, having been tainted by association. Perhaps most unfortunate of all, though, are the people who once lived bountiful lives in what is now the exclusion area, and who are now unsure if they can ever hope go back to what one government spokesman described as a “forbidden zone.”

1 NO MAN’S LAND An overhead view of Fukushima Dai-ichi, showing both its proximity to the sea and to areas of high population density. When the people who lived here can safely return remains a matter of conjecture but the effects of the tragedy will last for many years.

2 DEFENSELESS Fukushima’s tsunami defenses failed when faced with the vast surge of water that swept through the region in March 2011. Allegations have since emerged that the defensive wall had been identified as inadequate years earlier.