Fallout from Fukushima

Illuminating and persuasive, this account tells the story of Japan’s worst nuclear disaster and the attempts to suppress, downplay, and obscure its consequences. On a calm afternoon in March 2011, a force-nine earthquake jolted the Pacific Ocean seabed east of Japan. Forty minutes later, a tsunami 21 meters high crashed onto the coast of Fukushima, Miyagi, and Iwate prefectures. Towns collapsed, villages were destroyed, and 16,000 people were swept away. Combining interviews, research, and analysis, this book reveals the extent of the disaster’s effects, including the ruinous compensation claims faced by electricity supplier TEPCO; the complete shutdown of Japan’s nuclear reactors; and the psychological impact on those who, unable to return to their farms and villages, may become permanent nuclear refugees.