This comprehensive overview of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster provides an in-depth look at the events leading up to the disaster, the disaster itself, and its aftermath. It examines the causes of the disaster, the effects on the environment, the human toll, and the long-term
On 11 March 2011, a major nuclear accident started at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The direct cause was the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which resulted in electrical grid failure and damaged nearly all of the power plant's backup energy sources. The subsequent inability to sufficiently cool reactors after shutdown compromised containment and resulted in the release of radioactive contaminants into the surrounding environment. It is regarded by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation as the worst nuclear incident since the Chernobyl disaster.