Inside Japan's Nuclear Meltdown (full documentary) | FRONTLINE

A devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on March 11, 2011 triggering a crisis inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex. This 2012 documentary reveals how close the world came to a nuclear nightmare.

In the desperate hours and days after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the fate of thousands of Japanese citizens fell into the hands of a small corps of engineers, firemen and soldiers who risked their lives to prevent the Daiichi nuclear complex from complete meltdown. FRONTLINE tells the story of the workers struggling frantically to reconnect power inside the plant’s pitch-dark and highly radioactive reactor buildings; the nuclear experts and officials in the prime minister’s office fighting to get information as the crisis spiraled out of control; and the plant manager who disobeyed his executives’ orders when he thought it would save the lives of his workers.

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Major funding for FRONTLINE is provided by the Ford Foundation. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Park Foundation; the Heising-Simons Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen.

[DeborahRosen]

These men who worked in unimaginable conditions to control the radiation and prevent a meltdown are heroes, not just to Japan but to the world. They should be honored by all as such.

[weavernutz]

I lived in Okinawa when the earthquake tsunami happened. My unit deployed the next day and started humanitarian missions immediately. It’s the only thing I did in my military career that I believe was worth it.

[luckymuddypaw]

The prime minister handled the situation incredibly well. When he realized he wasn't being told the entire truth, he went there himself. He was responsible for the entire country, he needed to know exactly what was going on, and when that wasn't happening he took it into his own hands

[MichaelClark-uwex]

"I had to do it for my daughter"

That was the most loving statement ever.

[piotrw]

"He left his family" Such a crap sentence. He saved what was left of it, allowed his daughter to make a family. What the guy said was spot on - "The living are more important than the dead"

[turhakuolla]

the dad and his personal distaster broke my heart. i love how he acted in favor of his surviving daughter and appears to be such a good father in the end despite battling his own grieving and uncertainties. and the quote about looking at the sea that took their families from them ah:(( so beautifully sad

[Angelica_Rodriguez]

Those firefighters were beyond courageous. So, so much respect to them.

[moshack]

I live in Tokyo Japan. I remember this day like it was yesterday. The Earthquake was horrible. I was trapped in my 2nd floor bedroom only days after returning from the hospital for a major surgery on my Cervical spine. I could hardly move. I had to ride it out as my family evacuated our house. At least they are safe I thought. Then the news of the nuclear plants melt down radiation was broadcasting on the news. We knew it was serious. I am American, but my family is Japanese. I would stay and die with my family if that was our fate. Now after many years I appreciate life more than ever. Every day is a blessing.

[felixthecleaner]

the workers who went in to vent the reactors and the Firemen who laid hoses from the ocean to the fuel ponds were very brave men indeed.

[AccidentallyOnPurpose]

The ingenuity the workers had to rig up all the car batteries long enough to get some instruments working is amazing.

[BrokeredHeart]

I'm absolutely heartbroken for that father who was hunting for his wife, father and youngest daughter. He did everything in his power to find them. I grieve with him and all the other parents, sons, daughters and grandparents, whose families were ripped apart that day by the tsunami. It's a living nightmare to see your entire town and everyone you know in it destroyed within a matter of hours. Truly horrific, and I can't even fathom the mental toll it has taken on the people of Futaba and Fukushima.

[gotindrachenhart]

Courage doesn't mean you have no fear, it means doing what must be done despite the fear. And those firefighters and plant workers and chopper pilots were some of the most courageous people ever IMO. At times, you must simply do what is right, no matter the cost.

Much was learned from this disaster but in the end, there is only so much we can do to keep mother nature at bay.

[claudehall]

I can't imagine going to work and my wife and daughter disappear in natural disaster with no answers on their whereabouts. That is worse than finding their remains.

[christinehede]

The Japanese Prime Mister made the right choices. Having to resign was unfair. All those people that worked to save the plant from exploding are heroes, every last one of them.

[kjoseph]

I’m Japanese, and I was ten years old in this disaster.
This documentary reminds me of the fear that I felt then. Also, it told me that unnamed heros enabled us to live in peaceful life now

[mntoaz]

I didn’t realize just how bad this could have been. I have tremendous respects for all the people involved to get the situation under control.

[Mattreyu]

I'd like to know how exactly the Prime Minister "mishandled" the crisis (as his critics said) and was forced to resign. Seems to me like he did the best job he could realistically do in that situation and that TEPCO did all of the mishandling, and I don't mean their workers.

[michaelsease]

TEPCO executives should have been the ones forced into the reactors to vent them.

[LindaStevensBZ]

I bow to the guys who risked it all.

To venture inside and try to save the day, demands respect and thanks.

[Rebander]

The workers and firemen are heroes! Thank you to them 12 years later! All of you were so brave. God bless all of you and your country.