When an earthquake shook Japan, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was shut down. As a result of the earthquake, a powerful tsunami washed in towards the country’s east coast. For the nuclear power plant, the tidal wave was fatal – the backup generators were knocked out and nuclear fuel heated up.
Large amounts of radioactive waste leaked out and nearly 200,000 people were evacuated from the area around the nuclear power plant. SVT’s foreign reporter Ulrika Bergsten, on location in Japan, describes how the affected areas have been restored in some places.
– But in many places it looks exactly the same as it did when the earthquake occurred. The kitchen tables are set just as they were, the shops are left – clothes are still hanging, shoes are on display, she says in The morning studio.
“Has no energy source to speak of”
No people were seriously injured by the radiation, but the accident changed the view of nuclear power in Japan and several nuclear power plants were shut down. But the pendulum has swung again – dependence on gas and coal imports is seen as increasingly problematic and nuclear power is on the rise again.
– It may seem strange – it was only twelve years since the accident – but it is simply the case that Japan has no energy source of its own to speak of apart from nuclear power, says Ulrika Bergsten.
– But there is also an opinion against investing in nuclear power at all.