Log In Register

Nuclear Aftershocks 1x54

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and 46-foot tsunami wave crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan. The waves flooded the plant’s basement, destroying the back-up diesel generators and electrical switchgear, and plunged the complex into a “Station Blackout” condition. As the world watched, Tokyo Electric Power Company workers struggled to gain control of an escalating accident that included reactor meltdowns, injured and irradiated workers, multiple hydrogen explosions, radioactive contamination that necessitated evacuating tens of thousands of people living near the plant, and more. Starting with an analysis of what went wrong at Fukushima, FRONTLINE examines the implications for U.S. nuclear safety and asks how this major nuclear disaster will affect the future of nuclear energy around the world.