Has Japan Been Able To Bounce Back After Fukushima Disaster, 10 Years On? | Insight | Full Episode

[Music] on march 11 2011 a powerful 9.1 magnitude undersea earthquake struck northeastern japan it was the largest and most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the it was followed soon after by a devastating tsunami powerful waves as high as 40 meters tore apart entire coastal towns and villages destroying everything in its path nearly 20 000 people were killed in the disaster the devastating tsunami also triggered meltdowns and three reactors at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant making it the world's second worst nuclear disaster in history after chernobyl has japan been able to bounce back from the triple disaster 10 years old or is the tragedy too much to bear for at least half a million people while struggling to piece their lives together again [Music] [Music] march 2021 exactly 10 years after the triple disaster hit north eastern japan fukushima is still struggling to return to normal evacuated towns where a deserter broke the abandoned and damaged houses that sits on the scarred landscape as well as the empty roads are a testimony to the devastation caused by the disaster on that fateful day friday march 11 2011 the magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck below the northwestern pacific ocean some 400 kilometers northeast of tokyo the gigantic tremor then unleashed a 14 meter wall of water on the fukushima coastline wiping out life livelihood and homes that lay on its path the disasters also triggered multiple meltdowns at the fukushima nuclear plants and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents from nearby towns since then futaba has been stuck in an eerie freeze frame of tragedy but just five kilometers away in namier life appears to be edging back to normal residents and businesses have started to return since the evacuation order was lifted in 2017. [Music] according to the government radiation readings above ground are now stable and at safe levels following the government's massive efforts to decontaminate the area a proud resident of namie yukio yamamoto is one of those who have returned home this was where he was born 78 years ago three generations once lived here under one roof until the tragedy struck unexpectedly ripping his family apart until today he remembers vividly the events of march 11 2011 as if it just happened yesterday is [Music] [Music] another resident is 58 year old toru akama toru is a former contractor for tepco japan's electric power company based in fukushima he's also among those who felt the tremor of the 9.1 magnitude earthquake while he was working at the fukushima daiichi power plant [Music] [Music] foreign me and came with the utmost ferocity about 100 people died in the earthquake but close to 20 000 people lost their lives when the tsunami struck nearly 000 buildings were destroyed the catastrophic reactor explosions and core meltdown at the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant had only made it worse around 160 000 people were forced to evacuate after radioactive material covered entire towns seventy-eight-year-old cattle farmer mr yamamoto and his family were among those who had to leave his hometown in namie [Music] in fact he had to move nine times in search of a secure location over the last 10 years but he kept coming back to his farm even when the town was still declared unsafe just tend to his cattle [Music] mustang [Music] [Music] in 2012 an order came from then prime minister naot khan for farmers in fukushima to euthanize their cattle the direction came after radiation made the famous premium quality wagyu cows commercially worthless but mr yamamoto defied the government's order to cull his livestock as he could not bring himself to kill something as precious as his cattle dog [Music] [Music] at the peak of the nuclear disaster nearly half a million people were evacuated from their homes but until today tens of thousands of them have yet to return to their hometowns as radiation fears continue to linger in some parts of the region the government has a target of 0.23 micro sieverts per hour which is the recommended maximum level for public exposure to radiation but a greenpeace investigation has found higher levels of radiation even in areas that have been declared [Music] safe [Music] 39 year old yuko ishii was originally from she once stayed together with her parents her grandparents along with her husband and three children but after the disaster struck yuko and her family fled the region she has now found a permanent place to stay in chiba prefecture near tokyo her parents however have returned to fukushima although the japanese government has lifted evacuation orders from most towns she still has lingering doubts about the effects of the radiation [Music] [Music] so the fukushima disaster has torn apart multi-generational families leaving elderly relatives all alone at a place they once shared with their children and grandchildren but how did the triple disaster occur in the first place could it have been prevented especially in an earthquake region like japan [Music] a strong earthquake measuring 7.9 in magnitude has hit japan shaking buildings in tokyo japan has issued a tsunami alert for up to six meters after the powerful quick [Music] ten years have passed since a massive earthquake rocked northeastern japan in march 2011. yet here in futaba time has simply stood still what's left of this once bustling town are remnants of a hastily abandoned life it's a grim reminder of nature's destructive power and just how fragile and vulnerable human beings are in the face of nature's fury that was what happened on 11th march 2011. [Music] uh [Music] [Music] plant foreign tokyo electric power company known as tebco continued to pump the reactors with tons of seawater in a desperate attempt to cool down the fuel rods and avoid a complete meltdown a complete meltdown of the reactors could lead to a massive release of radioactive materials to a much wider area across the country and beyond this they just 6 reactors caused massive radiation leaks on march 14 2011 radiation levels near the plant stood at 400 millisieverts per hour an average person is usually exposed to about 2.4 millisieverts of radiation per year that means the radiation at fukushima was nearly 1.5 million times stronger than it would be in an average environment was busy laying the pipes 10 meters underground when the earthquake happened he stopped work immediately and went up to the surface when the ground began to shake violently he ignored the evacuation order to leave namier following the disaster as he was worried about his 14 rescue dogs me even took up restoration work at the plant following the explosion out of his personal sense of duty he would only stop working when his exposure to radiation reached the limit which was considered unsafe for nuclear [Music] today a decade later large swathes of land remain contaminated following the meltdown of the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant the majority of residents who have fled the town however have no intention of coming back many are still worried about the risks of radiation despite the government's assurance that the crisis has largely been overcome foreign he's lived his whole life in this town in futaba district fukushima prefecture although he and many other residents of this town have already begun to rebuild their lives here he still laments the fact that recovery has not been swift for most of them but foreign until today mr yoshida feels that the casualties in amie could have been a lot fewer had it not been for the nuclear accident so meanwhile in japan confidence in nuclear power has collapsed following the world's worst nuclear accident since chernobyl what has the government done to allay such fears [Music] in the southernmost parts of the tohoku region lies the verdant green mountains and the abukuma river that flows through the fukushima and miyagi prefectures they're truly a beautiful sight to behold it is nature at its most pristine but amidst its natural charm lies deep concerns over the invisible presence of radiation that lurks in this wilderness migration [Music] but the reality is since 2011 the japanese government has taken measures to decontaminate radiation affected zones within fukushima by stripping surface soil from contaminated zones according to experts in the absence of decontamination efforts the radiation could remain in the environment for at least two centuries stripping away the surface of the soil would help to eliminate most of it it would also allow former residents to return home in complete safety the government has spent some 300 billion dollars rebuilding the tsunami devastated tohoku region today 10 years after the disaster radiation levels in the city are now comparable to readings in places like hong kong and london foreign the government has also declared that fruits and vegetables grown in the prefecture are fine to eat so is the catch from the sea as well as livestock researchers from the society for animal refugee and environment post-nuclear disaster for example has been carrying out tests on cows from three ranches including those owned by mr yamamoto and so far according to him there hasn't been any serious illnesses such as cancer affecting his cattle [Music] diversity uh foreign while mr yamamoto's livestock seems to be relatively unaffected by radiation there's concern over the long term health of residents in the prefecture who have been exposed to the radiation shinzo kimura is an associate professor at tokyo medical university he says while the evidence on the health impact on humans hasn't been conclusive they're reasonable grounds for concern [Music] a is [Music] however when it comes to fukushima specifically dr kimura says the data is still rather scanned that's because adults here are not required to go through medical screening for cases like thyroid cancer another big concern facing the japanese authorities is what to do with more than a million tonnes of contaminated water used to cool the daiichi nuclear plant the space to store the liquid which includes groundwater and rain that seeps daily into the plant will reach its maximum capacity by 2022 the government says most of the radioactive isotopes have been removed using a complex filtration process but one isotope tritium cannot be removed using the current technology currently there are 1.2 million cubic meters of treated water stored in tanks that's about the size of 500 olympic pools but yumikohata from the agency for natural resources and energy says even if all of that water were to be released into the sea over the course of a year the amount of radiation exposure will be very small although the idea of releasing the contaminated water into the ocean has emerged to be the most viable option for now some residents from fukushima are still feeling rather uneasy namier's town council member yuko ishii for one is worried about the reputational damage that such a move may have on the town if anything she feels that it may do more harm than good for the community so foreign a roadside station in soma city it just opened its doors to visitors last october the facility has restaurants serving seafood court in the area as well as a supermarket selling fish that comes through the nearby fishing pot the facility manager takashi tokoyoda says he's not concerned about the impact of radiation on the fish sold here that's because the fish are being tested for radiation and only those [Music] this 73 year old man also doesn't seem to be concerned about the fish being sold here he travels regularly from miyagi prefecture about two hours away with his friends and he would often stop by and eat seafood here in this roadside [Music] foreign but the truth is rebuilding trust among the locals remains a major challenge 10 years after the nuclear accident confidence in nuclear power has collapsed and voices calling for the decommissioning of nuclear plants are getting louder in favor of greener forms of energy can japan afford to take that route [Music] [Music] 2 46 p.m local time the moment when a 9.1 magnitude earthquake hits the northeast coast of japan on march 11 2011. as a mark of respect millions of japanese bowed their heads in silence offering prayers to the nearly 20 000 people who died in the massive earthquake and tsunami 10 years ago although a decade has passed since the tragic incident the emotional and psychological scars have not completely healed even to this day the people are still struggling to get back on their feet the authorities however are hoping that residents who fled the towns and villages ten years ago will return to help bring life and vibrancy back to the region [Music] [Music] 62 year old manabu nishiyuji left his hometown namier when he was just 18. but now manabu is among those who have made the decision to return to the place he was born 40 years later after his brother died no one has taken ownership of the land the triple disaster in march 2011 has only made it harder for other members of the family to return due to lingering fears of radiation from the already damaged fukushima daiichi plant but manabu who had a restaurant in tokyo feels obliged to return and redevelop the land which has been passed um the government is offering grants of up to 2 million yen or more than 18 000 us dollars for former residents of the prefecture to move to one of the 12 municipalities surrounding the fukushima daiichi nuclear plant an additional 4 million yen which is close to forty thousand dollars is offered to those who would like to start their business the government has also poured in billions of dollars to decontaminate and rebuild the battered region but the population in most of these municipalities remains low hovering around 20 percent at namier specifically the population is only at 9 of the previous levels there were at least 21 000 people who lived in this town during its heyday mr nishiyuchi who opened an udon shop in september last year is less bothered by the effects of radiation he still puts his trust in the government to do the right thing for the people foreign oh meanwhile as efforts are underway to bring life back to the once battered region the government and electricity industry have been pushing to restart the country's vast nuclear network the fukushima disaster has led to the shutdown of the country's then 54 operational reactors which once provided nearly a third of japan's electricity needs nine reactors have since been restarted again but the opposition to the opening up of older and new nuclear reactors is also getting stronger after the nuclear accident at the fukushima daiichi plant the public has begun to lose trust in the use of nuclear energy to help power the nation's energy needs foreign the problem is japan has pledged to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050 as part of the global effort to fight climate change but it feels that it would be hard to achieve the targets without the use of nuclear energy yumikohata from the agency for natural resources and energy says japan's energy policy will continue to focus on energy conservation and renewable energy sources she says nuclear energy remains indispensable for the resource poor nation for now that is also the view of former nuclear plant contractor toru akama he says that nuclear energy has zero greenhouse gas emission and is therefore a clean energy source that's worth investing in [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign the earthquake that rocked japan on march 11 2011 was the strongest the country had seen for a thousand years many lost their homes and families and the images of destruction caused by mother nature have remained deeply embedded in their memories the disaster also led to the meltdown at the daiichi nuclear power plant and forced tens of thousands of people out of their homes as the trauma continues to be endured by the evacuees who lost their homes and their loved ones in the tragedy it has also cast a shadow of the prospects of nuclear power to help sustain the country's energy needs will it be safe will the lives of the people be protected if another major calamity hits the earthquake pro nation yet again [Music] [Music] foreign on march 20th 2021 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the coast of japan again just 100 kilometers from fukushima no material damage was recorded this time but it's a grim reminder of how vulnerable the nation is to natural disasters a sad reality that it has to face living on an incredibly active seismic region known as the ring of fire [Music] you

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Length: 50min 0sec (3000 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 31 2021