Episode 5: Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

For the people of Fukushima Prefecture, time stopped at 2:46pm on March 11th, 2011. This was the moment that the Tōhoku earthquake with a magnitude of 9.1, rocked the coastal region. This was the largest earthquake to ever hit Japan, and the fourth largest earthquake the world has ever known since modern record-keeping began in the 1900s. A little less than an hour after the earthquake hit an ensuing tsunami unleashed waves – some up to 133 ft. tall – in a blind fury upon the mainland. The earthquake and ensuing tsunami also damaged the reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in one the worst nuclear disasters the world has ever known.

Episode Source Material

A decade after the Fukushima accident: Radiation-linked increases in cancer rates not expected to be seen by UNSCEAR

The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster - Epidemic of Ghosts by Kyle Hill

Fukushima: The nuclear disaster that shook the world by BBC News

The 20 largest recorded earthquakes in history by Livescience

Earthquakes by the United States Geological Survey

Researchers estimate total energy and local impact of the 2011 Japan tsunami by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA)

The Fukushima-Daiichi Accident by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Fukushima Fallout: Nuclear business makes people pay and suffer by Greenpeace

Why Fukushima Was Preventable by James M. Acton and Mark Hibbs

This May Be the Biggest Threat from Fukushima – And It’s Still Ongoing by Justin Worland

Fukushima, Mental Health and Suicide by Masaharu Maeda, Misari Oe, Evelyn Bromet, Seiji Yasumura and

Psychosocial effects of the Fukushima disaster and current tasks: Differences between natural and nuclear disasters by Masaharu Maeda, Misari Oe and Yuriko Suzuki

Fukushima in review: A complex disaster, a disastrous response by Yoichi Funabashi and Kay Kitazawa

The 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Pacific Earthquake and the seismic damage to the NPPs by Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES)