The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster (Disaster Documentary)

The in-depth story of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Disaster

On March 11, 2011, the Japanese islands were struck by an earthquake of enormous force. For six minutes the ground was shaking, turning whole towns into piles of rubble. But, while the struggle to recover from the most powerful earthquake in the history of Japan was going on, no one was aware that the earthquake was the prelude to yet another drama. At the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, a disaster of unprecedented proportions was about to happen.

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This disaster documentary is inspired by the fantastic "Fascinating Horror".

#disasterdocumentary #fukushimadisaster #darkhistory

[ste]

I still find it utterly baffling that someone thought, in a location well known to be liable to tsunamis, it would be a really good idea to place the crucial back up generators in a basement. Absolute madness. But there again, as someone who has worked for decades in the back up diesel generator industry, it doesn't really surprise me.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

One thing you didn't mention is that much of the subsequent clean-up was done by elderly volunteers, knowing they would be exposed to substantial doses of radiation and knowing that meant much less to them with their limited lifespans than it would mean to younger people with many decades yet ahead of them to develop cancers from their exposure.

[Mochrie]

I still can't imagine being in a situation where the ground is shaking for 6 whole minutes! I was always under the impression most earthquakes last just seconds, a minute or two in the worst cases. But 6? That's terrifying.

[papabear]

My oldest son was in Japan when that happened. That earthquake literally shook him out of a job. He was back home within a couple of weeks and he embarked on a new path in life. He was one of the fortunate ones who survived.

[waynebetts]

I worked 18 hours a day at my company to supply hoses to transfer water to cool these reactors. So surreal to have a a small role in preventing a more serious catastrophe.

[pakeshde]

Missed a few points that made it worse. The seawalls were actually decent however the size of the quake and its type meant that the coast sank in places many feet which immediately made the seawalls fail. The second was tepco, they KNEW the plant had risks but of course when you are the only power company in the country you can get away with a LOT. Third was the failure to give accurate info to the government including the fact Tepco could have flooded the reactors with seawater but refused because it would have killed them, which then then had to later anyways.

[Mattwest]

1:11 my heart is broken for this poor girl! No telling what she went through and I hope she’s okay now 😔
It’s hard to fathom the suffering that goes on in this world sometimes.

[scottbrady]

great thumbnail for this. the exaggerated "hydrogen release" from daiichi number three, looks chunky, the particulate material rising above the facilty contains material from the fuel that has reached criticality. the incredible height, can be calculated by comparing the rising plume, with the buildings and/or visible stacks. something approaching two thousand feet above the Pacific.

[CATAZTRPHE]

The catastrophe in Fukushima was not the worst thing for Japan. The worst was the tsunami because of which 14, 000 people were killed. The last time when so strong earthquake and tsunami took place in Japan was 1000 years earlier. This country was not anywhere ready. Coastal walls protecting from the increase in water level were too low everywhere. Nobody at their construction was expecting such growth of water level.
There is only one town (Fudai) where the walls were high enough and protected the inhabitants. The mayor of the town was very criticized for such high and costly wall when it was built. This tsunami came after his death and when wall saved the inhabitants, the mayor became a hero.

[solitaireburton]

That was a dreadful month for natural disasters in the Pacific. New Zealand also had an earthquake and in Australia we had Cyclone Yasi, which started and was named in Fiji. By the time it got to us it was HUGE and didn't start to break down until it had travelled about 800km inland. An unheard of distance. Once they hit land, cyclones normally break up.

[rogerrendzak]

I've never seen a documentary, on this disaster. This is highly detailed, and informative. @9:28 it shows 9 kilometers, when the narrator says, 12 miles. Then it would be more like, 19 kilometers.

[sockjim]

In my senior year of high school I took AP Environmental Science and our textbook was written in 2008 iirc. In the section on nuclear power it mentioned Japan’s nuclear industry and said something along the lines of “it’s a wonder Japan hasn’t had any serious nuclear accidents seeing as they’re so prone to earthquakes and tsunamis.” Reading that a decade or so after Fukushima, with existing knowledge of the disaster and its continuing effects, was very surreal.

[gabreldelaney]

I was about 12 years old when this happened me and my mom were stationed in Misawa Japan and we were near where the tsunami was hit. We were about four hours away but we got the earthquake and it was so bad. I was so scared that the tsunami was going to hit us. Fortunately, it did not end, the only thing that really happened is we had no power after the earthquake, but we had no idea that this was going on as well, and will be our of hearts are broken still to this day. I love Japan with all my heart and I can’t believe that this happened I even been to the place that got hit the hardest Sendai and it was so sad to see what happened to the town.

[Khether]

One of the things I find terrifying in floods is that after a few inches of water, when you can't see the ground anymore, it might as well be as deep as the ocean from hell because new holes will open up and you can't see them, besides it also only takes a few inches of rapidly running water to sweep you from your feet... dragging you under above mentioned unforeseen hazards!!!

[SuperFlashDriver]

I was in 8th grade around 15 years old, in America, when it happened the day before my older brother's birthday on March 12th, 2011. I remember seeing news and even video of this horrible incident, not realizing it was a humongous disaster that ended up being a 9-11 but in march to Japan. Now, Both America and Japan had their 9-11 moments in the history of the world. All done nearly ten years apart. Never Forget both 9-11-01 and 3-11-11.

[goblin]

I remember almost none of my early childhood. That said, despite being in kindergarten I can still remember the glow of the tv as it showed footage of the devastation. I can remember asking my mother what a tsunami was, and her face as she described it to me. I can even remember the pink jacket I wore, and the cold rain outside.

[theduke]

Every time I read or here about this event I have the same thought. How could the engineers have been so short sighted? They put the emergency water pump engines in the 'basement'? To me this is a crime of idiocy if nothing more. Built on the shore of a country that is very familiar with earth quakes and tsunamis, why weren't the generators put in locations separate from and in protected raised structures?
I wrote this without reading any other comments. After doing so, it would seem that even those of us who have no idea how engineering and building a power plant is achieved, even we know not to put them in a basement.

[MichaelWayneWhitemore]

Very good presentation, I was the EP coordinator at Byron Station and know the risk we planned for!

[negativenancy]

so weird that after 60 years of nuclear powerplants people still don't know that the only thing you really need to do with them is to keep you shit up to standards and to not cut corners... and above all, don't try to save face and cover it up...

[agentbrandt]

I remember Naoto-san, who chose to stay in Fukushima exposing himself to great levels of radiation so he could take care of the animals. What human being. I hope he's still ok today.