What Happens in Fukushima 50?
The complete story of Fukushima 50, from the first scene to the last, in 249 words (about 1 minute). Spoilers throughout.
Spoilers ahead
At 2:46 p.m. on 11 March 2011, the largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history with a magnitude of 9.1 and a maximum seismic intensity of 7 occurred. A huge tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. It was clear that a nuclear reactor lost all power due to flooding by the tsunami. A station blackout (SBO) caused the reactor to fall into an uncoolable situation and suffer unimaginable damage due to nuclear meltdown.
On-site workers, including Izaki Haruka, who is on duty at Units 1 and 2, remain in the nuclear power plant and work hard to control the reactor. Director Masao Yoshida, who oversees the overall command, inspires his subordinates, but also expresses anger at the head office and the Kantei (Prime Minister’s Office), which are not fully aware of the situation. However, the efforts at the site were in vain and the situation continued to worsen, forcing the surrounding people to evacuate.
In the worst scenario of this accident estimated by the Kantei, the damage range would have a 250 km radius with the evacuation target population of circa 50 million people, which meant the destruction of eastern Honshu (the largest of Japan’s four main islands). The only option left on the scene is “venting”, which has never been done before in the world and requires a worker to manually rush into the reactor at great personal risk. The operation finally began while it was cut off from the outside world with zero information coming in.
