The World from PRX

Fukushima 10 Years Later

The earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March of 2011 killed nearly 20,000 people and triggered a nuclear meltdown the country will be cleaning up for decades to come. On the 10th anniversary of the disaster, The World revisits some of the people and places hardest hit by the national tragedy to see what rebuilding has meant for them.
A protester is shown wearing a white radiation protection suit and holding a sign with cuts of fish and the radioactive symbol.
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Security guards look at outbound vehicles moving toward them at a security checkpoint where part of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is seen in the background in Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Feb. 25, 2021. An official
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Several large boats are shown on their side and washed ashore following a tsunami as shown from across a body of water.
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A woman is shown standing and wearing a full blue medical protective outfit with several people walking past her in blurred motion.
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This photo shows the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant situated in Naraha and Tomioka towns, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Feb. 26, 2021.
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In this Nov. 12, 2011 file photo, workers in protective suits and masks wait to enter the emergency operation center at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station in Okuma, Japan.
Fukushima 10 Years Later
Author Yoichi Funabashi on Fukushima crisis 10 years later: Nuclear energy was and still is ‘unforgiving’