‘#Fukushima: A #Nuclear Nightmare’ Review: An Emotional Choice

This documentary offers a rundown of the 2011 nuclear meltdown with special attention to the shift workers who risked their lives while trying to stabilize the plant.

March 10, 2026

" 'We were told Japan would cease to exist if we failed.' On #March11, 2011, a 8.9-magnitude #earthquake and a #tsunami struck the northeast coast of #Japan, precipitating a series of hydrogen explosions at the #FukushimaDaiichi nuclear plant.

"The new HBO documentary 'Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare,' directed by James Jones ('#Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes'), offers a tense rundown of the aftermath by pairing archival footage with testimonies from the people who witnessed the events firsthand.

"In the days following the earthquake and tsunami, workers at the plant hurried to contain what they knew could become a #NuclearCatastrophe. Using diagrams, the documentary strives to convey the dangers on an elementary-school level: Without electricity, the reactors’ cooling systems failed, causing the fuel rods to melt and spew radioactive material. The schematics are paired with a tense score and sinister-looking footage of fiery explosions.

"In an emotional interview, an engineer named #IkuoIzawa recalls remaining on-site while the majority of the plant’s crew was evacuated. Knowing that he might not survive, he sent an email to his family members, imploring them to look after one another. Izawa became part of the #Fukushima50: the everyday shift workers who risked their lives for the welfare of Japan. Although chiefly a straightforward — and at points repetitive — synopsis of the events, 'Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare' distinguishes itself in its devotion to elevating these men as heroes."

Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare
Directed by James Jones∙
Documentary∙
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Streaming on HBO Max.

Source:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/movies/fukushima-a-nuclear-nightmare-review.html

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/eTbOo

#NoNukes #RethinkNotRestart #FukushimaDocumentary #Remember311 #FukushimaIsntOver

SimplyInfo.org: 15th Anniversary Report #FukushimaDaiichi

March 2, 2026

Excerpt: "This TV Asahi investigative report from March 2025 [linked below] paints a sobering picture of the enormous challenges still facing the decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi, fourteen years after the accident. While #TEPCO achieved a milestone the previous November by extracting roughly 0.7 grams of #NuclearFuel debris for the first time, experts interviewed for the piece emphasized that debris removal is just one piece of a far more complex puzzle. Around 1,000 fuel assemblies
still remain in the spent fuel pools of Units 1 and 2, untouched since the accident, and officials from the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation (#NDF) described clearing these pools as the single most urgent priority — in part because another
#earthquake or #tsunami could strike at any time.

"Before large-scale debris removal can even begin, the area around the reactor buildings must be cleared of heavily contaminated structures and exhaust stacks to make room for the massive equipment required. Because humans cannot safely approach the highly radioactive debris, all removal work must be done remotely. Radiation levels outside the buildings remain dangerously high — a dosimeter near #Unit2 showed particularly elevated readings — and contaminated water continues to be generated at a rate of roughly 80 tons per day as #rainwater and #groundwater contact radioactive materials on site, despite TEPCO having already released about 80,000 tons of treated [but still radioactive] water into the ocean.

"Perhaps the most troubling concern raised in the article is what happens to the debris and #RadioactiveWaste after it is removed. Hiroshi Miyano, chairman of the Decommissioning Review Committee of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, was blunt in his criticism, saying no serious thought has been given to managing this waste over the coming century or two.

"The Fukushima debris is uniquely complicated because it is a mixture of melted nuclear fuel and structural materials, and experts warned that removal may not even be possible until a concrete disposal plan is in place. General decommissioning superintendent Toyoshi Fukada warned that without proper storage facilities ready in advance, the entire decommissioning effort could eventually grind to a halt simply because there would be nowhere to put the waste."

Read more:
https://simplyinfo.org/2026/03/simplyinfo-org-15th-anniversary-report-fukushima-daiichi/

Asashi investigative report [pdf]:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ysaf6a7hj62286sv4hoql/alps_water_d250130_14-j_translated.pdf?rlkey=3u397ndoafdtiq6fgjczg4a74&st=845tdf30&dl=0

#FukushimaIsntOver #TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #NuclearPlants #NuclearDisaster #Remember311

RE: https://mastodon.social/@thejapantimes/116186846390385036

#FukushimaIsntOver #Remember311 #RethinkNotRestart

When in doubt, dump it on #Indigenous land! But of course!!! <sarc>

In #Hokkaido, #IndigenousLand rights have added another layer to the division of opinions in Suttsu and Kamoenai over whether to host a permanent underground repository for Japan’s #NuclearWaste.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/environment/2025/07/06/energy/hokkaido-ainu-nuclear-waste-storage/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon

#NuclearColonialism #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousPeople #AinuPeople #Ainu #NoNukes #NoNukesForAI #RethinkNotRestart #FukushimaIsntOver #RenewablesNow #NuclearWaste #NuclearEnergy #Environment #Energy #Hokkaido #NoNuclearDumping #Remember311