Fukushima: Visiting 12 years after the nuclear disaster

On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced the most powerful earthquake in the country’s history. While the damage across the Tohoku region was severe, focus quickly fell on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which had suffered massive structural damage from the earthquake and was partially flooded from a resulting tsunami. While initial prospects were optimistic, the following weeks would turn into one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

But where disasters happen, there is also always hope, which is what I want to talk about in this post. To share my impressions of Fukushima, it’s people, and the encouraging spirit to rebuild their homes and revive the surrounding area. This tour was made possible by Real Fukushima, who have asked us to share our experiences with others, importantly without any imposed restrictions or bias. With that out of the way, let’s start with some impressions from the exclusion zone.

Abandoned, but not forgotten

Driving through the landscape is an unsettling experience, a journey through ruins frozen in time. Because of the nuclear fallout, the people were not able to return to their homes destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami, so many buildings have been left as is since the day of the disaster. Some have collapsed, others have been retaken by nature, and some of them have even been re-inhabited.

For a few years now, the government has slowly lifted the sanctions on the area and allowed the residents to return to their homes and start the process of recovery. While it is a slow process, with many people not wanting to return for obvious reasons, those who do are determined to overcome their past and bring hope to the area and it’s future.

Ukedo Primary School

The Ukedo Primary School located near the eastern coast of Fukushima prefecture tells a story of bravery and hope. On the day of the Tohoku earthquake, there was a short time frame between the inital hit of the earthquake and the arrival of the incoming tsunami. In that window, the teachers of the school made the decision of evacuate everyone out of the school to a nearby hill, which was not an unanimous decision. Just next to the school, many onlookers had parked their cars and were watching the ocean as it slowly receded, announcing the arrival of a tsunami, whose scale was tragically underestimated by most people, except for those teachers.

In the end, all the students and faculty members survived the disaster, despite the tsunami completely wrecking the first floor of the school building. The locals proudly speak of those brave teachers and the remainder of the school building has been remodeled into a museum dedicated to that day.

The plant

Visiting the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in real life was a strange experience. On the one hand, I have read all the stories over the years, about the disaster, about the successes and (unfortunately) many mistakes during the handling of the accident, and the awful consequences. Seeing the videos of the exploding reactor buildings is gut wrenching and gives sinister reminders of the 1986 disaster in Chernobyl.

Since we visited on the exact day the release of the nuclear waste water begun, the history and fear had been very present again in the media. But then I stood there, a hundred meters in front of the broken shell of reactor 1, with only a dosimeter and mask as protective gear. My accumulated radiation dose at the end of the day was equivalent to two dental x-rays, which I recalculated many times because I simply couldn’t quite fathom it.

By no means is the power plant or the surrounding area a safe place to spend a healthy life, but it isn’t nearly as bad as one might expect judging from the stories and pictures. After twelve years of daily recovery efforts, even a nuclear disaster as terrible as this can be overcome. Sure, it took a lot of very smart engineers, scientists and most importantly money, but there is hope for Fukushima’s future, now more than ever.

I hope my impressions could give an insight into the reality of living in Fukushima, and maybe even made you reflect on some of your own impressions you had on the topic. Either way, I am now entering my last month in Japan, so there is one more update to go. See you there!