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Fukushima Ghost Towns

Half-life is yet to begin for the world's worst atomic energy disaster.

January 20, 2012

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On the run

On the run

An ostrich that had escaped from a farm walks past a car in Tomioka, a town inside the exclusion zone of a 12-mile radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was hit on March 11, 2011, by a tsunami that exceeded a height of 49 feet in some areas.

This collection of images was taken by a Reuters stringer on January 17, 2011. Maybe in a generation or two, the region will be ready for Reuters to send in a photographer for a series of follow-up portraits.

Photo: Stringer/Reuters

Out of Business

Out of Business

An empty shopping street is seen in Tomioka, a town inside the12-mile radius exclusion zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

A March 2011 tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling systems, resulting in meltdowns of nuclear fuel, and became the world's worst atomic crisis in 25 years.

Photo: Stringer/Reuters

Game Over

Game Over

A games arcade destroyed by the 2011 earthquake is seen along Route 6 in Tomioka, a town inside the 12-mile radius exclusion zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

In December, the Japanese government announced that the damaged nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant had finally reached a state of cold shutdown.

Photo: Stringer/Reuters

New Residents

New Residents

A weed is seen growing out of the cracks at a petrol station on Route 6 in Tomioka, a town inside the exclusion zone of a 12-mile radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The cold shutdown was a milestone in cleanup efforts and a pre-condition for allowing the return of about 80,000 residents evacuated from a 12-mile radius of the Daiichi plant.

Photo: Stringer/Reuters

Evacuees

Evacuees

A herd of cows that escaped from a livestock farm walk in a field in Okuma, a town inside the exclusion zone of a 12-mile radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Fukushima prefecture.

The Japanese government will be drawing up new evacuation zones by the end of April.

Photo: Stringer/Reuters

A Bird's Eye View

A Bird's Eye View

A view of Tomioka, a town that is inside the exclusion zone of a 12-mile radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Areas where annual radiation levels are currently higher than 50 millisieverts will not be deemed suitable for living for at least five years.

Photo: Stringer/Reuters

One Disaster Could Lead to Another

One Disaster Could Lead to Another

Fallen gravestones are seen at a cemetery in Namie town, inside the exclusion zone of a 12-mile radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Fukushima prefecture.

The Japanese government aims to make all of Fukushima livable again by disposing of from 530,000,000 to 1,095,000,000 cubic feet of contaminated soil and debris. But nuclear engineer Shinichi Nakayama says, "You remove leaf litter from the forest floor and radiation levels fall. You take away the deeper layers and they fall more. But you take it all away and the ecosystem is destroyed. Water retention goes down and flooding can occur."

Photo: Stringer/Reuters

Warning Signs

Warning Signs

A road sign that reads "Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station" is seen in Okuma town, inside the exclusion zone of a 12-mile radius around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

In the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission safety panel has accepted several publicly requested actions regarding safety concerns at all 23 Fukushima-style nuclear reactors in the United States.

Photo: Stringer/Reuters

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Topics

Environment, World, Fukushima, Japan, nuclear radiation, Japan earthquake

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