Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident The tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011 precipitated an accident that was more severe, in some ways, than the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. Hydrogen explosions at three of the four buildings in the Fukushima nuclear power facility resulted in wide dispersal of radioactive debris. As of April 2022, there were 35,000 people still living as evacuees as reconstruction of housing in the area continues. Even now, cooling the melteddown nuclear fuels is generating 140 tons of contaminated water a day. This contaminated water is treated in a complex filtration process, but the radioactive material tritium remains in the water. The number of large tanks for storing this “treated water” is increasing on the site. The Number 3 reactor building of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility was damaged by a hydrogen explosion. Photograph courtesy of Mainichi Shimbun, November 12, 2011. With people on board, a bus passes through the cherry blossom in the Difficult-To-Return zone of Tomioka town, Fukushima. Photograph courtesy of Mainichi Shimbun, April 6, 2019. Police officers search for missing victims in Fukushima’s evacuation area, April 7, 2011. Photograph courtesy of Mainichi Shimbun.
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