FACT #49

When a 9.91 magnitude earthquake caused a tsunami in 2011 it overwhelmed the existing safety features of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant and caused the worst nuclear power plant disaster since Chernobyl.

Although the plant did survive the initial earthquake, the resulting tsunami was more than twice maximum tolerance of the plant's design. This event caused the plant's seawater pumps, designed to keep the reactors cool during the shutdown, failed.

This led to plant's three reactors leaking radioactive material as well as spillovers of the plant's contaminated wastewater - all escaping into the Pacific Ocean.

The nuclear plant was completely shut down, but massive amounts of radioactive waste still spilled into the environment. It is estimated that it will take four decades to decommission the power plant completely.