The Great East Japan Earthquake occurred on 11 March, 2011. A massive earthquake triggered tsunami which damaged the coastal areas of the Tohoku District, including Fukushima Prefecture.
Damage at the Power Station
Earthquake Damage
The Earthquake triggered the emergency stop of the operating reactors(1 - 3)
Emergency power supplies were triggered, starting fuel cooling operations for reactors 1-6
Tsunami Damage
Tsunami caused flooding of the emergency power supplies including batteries, which lead to a loss of power for reactors 1-5
Fuel melted in reactors 1-3 and radioactive substances were released into the air
Hydrogen explosions caused damage to the buildings containing reactors 1, 3, and 4.
Cooling function was lost for the spent fuel pools of reactors 1-6.
Power Station struck by tsunami
Damage Response
Fuel in Reactors 1-3 were cooled using water injection, and reached a stable condition
Reactor 5 resumed cooling operations using the emergency power facilities of Reactor 6.
Cooling of the spent fuel pools was resumed using pumping vehicles and other temporary equipment.
Fukushima Daiichi NPS - Situation after Tsunami Disaster
Reactor No.
Operational Condition
Reactor fuel (Unit:rod)
Fuel in Pool (Unit:rod)
ACPower Source
DC Power Source
Emergency AC Power Source
1
Operating
400
392
Unusable
Unusable
Unusable
2
Operating
548
615
Unusable
Unusable
Unusable
3
Operating
548
566
Unusable
Partially usable
Unusable
4
Suspended
0
1,535
Unusable
Unusable
Unusable
5
Suspended
548
994
Unusable
Usable
Unusable
6
Suspended
764
940
Unusable
Usable
Usable
The site shortly after the accident
Current situation of units
Reactor decommissioning operations are currently underway for Units 1-6 at the Fukushima Diichi NPS (As of September 2017)
Temperatures inside containment vessel air conditioners
Amount of radio cesium per hour dispersed from nuclesr reactor buildings
Concentrations of radioactive substances are being monitored and no signs of recriticality have been observed.
Current Situation(2017)of the site of Fukushima Daiichi NPS
Marine monitoring
TEPCO is conducting marine monitoring in order to confirm the impact on the environment caused by the radioactive substances released from the F1NPS. There are also many measures in place for the processing and reduction of contaminated water.
TEPCO is making efforts to confirm the environmental impact of radioactive substances released from the F1NPS
Radiation levels inside and outside the power station are being measured.
In spite of the leak of contaminated water, no significant increase in radiation levels has been observed outside the port.
Radiation levels of sea water are well below standards for drinking water set by WHO.
*Total beta activity includes naturally occurring radionuclides such as K-40.
Videos for Fukushima update
Fukushima Today-Toward new horizens (Jan. 2016, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)