This Week's Historical Theme: Japan
11 March 2011
A significant event throughout the history of Japan that occurred in March was the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The largest earthquake ever recorded in Japan had caused massive devastation, and the subsequent tsunami decimated the Tōhoku region of north-eastern Honshu. This triggered the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The failure of its backup power and cooling systems caused the fuel rods in all three nuclear reactors to partially melt down. After several days, all three reactors would explode. Thousands of people were evacuated, as workers attempted to use helicopters, water cannons and seawater pumps to cool the facility.
Over the next few months, the full extent of the disaster became apparent. No deaths were initially attributed to the incident, but 18,000 people nevertheless lost their lives due to the earthquake and tsunami. As of 2021, a 371-square-kilometer "difficult-to-return-zone" remains evacuated. In 2018, the government announced that a former plant worker who had served during the meltdown was the first death officially attributed to radiation from the disaster. Today, the Fukushima incident is considered to be the second-worst nuclear disaster in history, ranking behind Chernobyl, as it forced the relocation of over 100,000 people.
Want to find out more about the Fukushima disaster? Click here for more information, or here for more about history's other nuclear disasters.
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