2016

The scene is not post-apocalyptic, as one might expect. Fukushima now looks like a normal place – underpopulated, but normal. In 2016 we visited the prefecture on the north-eastern coast of Japan, more than 200 kilometres north of the capital Tokyo, to speak with those working to start over.

2014

9 March: Fukushima: thousands march in Tokyo against nuclear power

Major demonstration on the third anniversary of the worst crisis since Chernobyl. Thousands of people turned out to say "no, and for ever" to nuclear energy, joining the No Nukes Day. For the third anniversary of the outbreak of the Fukushima crisis – far from being resolved – Japanese associations and anti-nuclear citizens' movements gathered in the afternoon in Tokyo, in the central Hibiya Park, before setting off on the long march that ended at the Kantei, the prime minister's office, and at the seat of Parliament.

20 February: 100 tonnes of radioactive water leak

A large quantity of radioactive water leaked from a storage tank at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Tepco announced this in an official statement. The leak involved approximately 100 tonnes of highly contaminated water, which workers discovered shortly before midnight (Japanese time) on 19 February.

2013

11 September: Extremely high radiation levels in groundwater around Fukushima

According to the latest measurements by Tepco, groundwater samples taken near the contaminated water storage tanks show extremely high traces of radioactivity: levels reached 3,200 becquerels per litre. The already generous government limits are 100 becquerels per kg in food and 10 becquerels per litre in drinking water.

1 September: Radiation in water 18 times higher than a week earlier

In the containers surrounding the Fukushima plant, Tepco detects radioactivity levels of 1,800 millisieverts per hour – enough to kill a person after just four hours of exposure. The maximum permitted for plant workers, moreover recently raised by the Japanese government to cope with the emergency, is 50 millisieverts per hour. The Democratic Party, currently in opposition, is urging the government to formally request help from the international community.

20 August: 300 tonnes of contaminated water in the soil – worst incident since 2011

After Tepco, the company operating the plant, was forced on 22 July to admit that hundreds of tonnes of radioactive water per day had been flowing into the sea, the Japanese company disclosed that a further 300 tonnes (300,000 litres) had leaked out – this time into the soil. The radioactive water leak was classified as a "level 1 incident". It is the most serious incident since the explosions of March two years ago that put the plant out of action. "We are very concerned," admitted Hideka Morimoto, spokesperson for Japan's nuclear authority. The incident was classified at level 3.

18 July: 2,000 Fukushima workers at risk of cancer

Almost two thousand workers who worked on an emergency basis at the Fukushima plant in the days and weeks following the nuclear disaster were exposed to radiation levels that now put them at risk of thyroid cancer. Tepco's previous estimate of the number of possible cancer victims was ten times lower. The checks were conducted on 19,592 workers. The tests established that 1,973 workers had been working in an environment with radiation levels above 100 millisieverts per year, exceeding the levels considered tolerable by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.

11 June: Cost estimates – Canada triples civil liability for nuclear plants

Canada tightens civil liability for nuclear plant operators, raising it to C$1 billion. Little, all the same, given that according to the Canadian Environmental Law Association Japan has already spent 40 billion on Fukushima (equivalent to 0.83% of Japanese GDP) and decontamination alone will cost 600 billion dollars. Not counting the decommissioning of the plant.

9 April: Tepco no longer knows where to put radiation-contaminated water

Over the course of this weekend, the containment wells full of radioactive water used to cool the damaged reactors lost approximately 120,000 litres of water. Two years after the worst nuclear energy disaster in the country's history, Tepco has still not resolved the problems stemming from the need to keep the nuclear fuel rods, the reactors and the pools cooled: the temporary system has broken down twice in the past three weeks, and the company has no more tanks to transfer the water from the wells, as general manager Masayuki Ono stated at a press conference.

15 March: Radioactive fish in Minamisoma 135 times above safe consumption level

1,350 Bq is the radioactivity reading in rock perch caught 11 km off the coast of Minamisoma, in Fukushima prefecture. The level considered safe for human consumption is 100 becquerels.

28 February: WHO: risk of tumours for residents and emergency workers

The WHO publishes a report based on studies by several international experts. In the most contaminated areas, the likelihood of thyroid tumours in girls who were exposed to radiation increases by as much as 70%. A third of the emergency workers who responded during the crisis are at risk of serious consequences, the report concludes.

7 February: A Fukushima in Europe? It would cost 430 billion euros

The estimate was made by France's Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire (Irsn): 430 billion euros. And even for a less serious accident, with lower radioactive emissions, the total cost would be no less than 120 billion. The estimate takes into account costs linked to possible closures of other nuclear plants, costs that would need to be faced in finding alternative energy sources or importing energy from abroad, as well as the negative effects on agricultural exports and tourism.

2012

23 October: Greenpeace: radiation measurements in Fukushima unreliable

More than 75% of the 40 monitoring stations checked by Greenpeace in Fukushima city recorded radiation levels lower than those detected in their immediate surroundings: at twenty-five metres' distance, contamination levels are up to six times higher than those measured at the government-installed stations. According to Greenpeace, the management of decontamination is still fragmented: "We fear," says Rianne Teule, radiation expert at Greenpeace International, "that these stations are giving citizens a false sense of security."

13 September: Japanese nuclear plants to close by 2030

The Japanese government, which recently began restarting reactors considered safe following the Fukushima accident in order to meet the energy needs of businesses, plans to permanently close all its nuclear plants by 2030. The Kyodo news agency and broadcaster NHK have previewed the news of the presentation – within this week – of a road map to decommission the more than 50 reactors on Japanese territory.

23 July: Radiation detectors tampered with (to lower readings)

Japanese authorities have opened an investigation into the possibility that instruments used to measure radiation levels following the March 2011 tsunami were tampered with to produce results lower than actual levels. The request is alleged to have been made by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to the contractors responsible for operating the Fukushima plant. Tepco is said to have stated that nine workers covered their dosimeters – devices used to determine the dose of ionising radiation absorbed by the human body – with lead sheets. The practice is said to have continued until the end of last year.

29 May: Bluefin tuna in California more radioactive than three years ago. Fukushima?

Stanford University detected radioactive substances such as caesium-137 and caesium-134 in greater quantities in tuna caught off California from March 2011 onwards, compared with fish caught three years earlier — a date that coincides with the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Although experts say the radioactivity levels pose no dietary risk to humans, the finding raises questions about the possible widespread radioactive contamination of the marine environment.

8 March: 14 international organisations write to governments, calling for a halt to nuclear power

Representatives of fourteen international organisations promoted an open letter addressed to world leaders, signed by numerous prominent figures including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, calling for the elimination of nuclear risk as soon as possible and for investment in safe, renewable energy. In recent days, Greenpeace organised events in more than 20 countries around the world to draw attention to the risks of nuclear power ahead of the anniversary.

7 March: Traces of contamination found in children 200 km from the plant

Japanese children living 200 kilometres from the plant still show traces of contamination, according to analyses carried out by the Association for Radioactivity Control (Arco). Of the 22 children tested, 14 still show traces of caesium-134 and caesium-137: the samples were collected between December 2011 and February 2012. The values demonstrate that the contamination persists over time and originates from food intake.

8 February: Bird population decline worse than expected

The low, persistent levels of radiation in Fukushima prefecture appear to have had negative effects on bird populations, to an even greater extent than predicted by an analytical comparison with Chernobyl. The research, carried out by an international team of scientists, is published in the journal "Environmental Pollution".

24 January: Japan seeks UN approval to restart reactors

Japan asks the UN nuclear agency to establish a permanent office in Fukushima to monitor efforts to contain the consequences of the disaster. The IAEA is headquartered in Vienna and has offices around the world, but does not normally maintain permanent bases to monitor reactor sites. This comes as the atomic energy agency's team of experts has begun carrying out safety checks on the inactive nuclear reactors. Tokyo is seeking international approval to revive the country's nuclear industry.

13 January 2012: With Ikata, 49 of the 54 existing reactors now shut down

Reactor no. 2 at Ikata is closed, yet the shutdown of 90% of reactors is not causing energy shortages. Following last night's closure, only 5 of Japan's 54 reactors remain in operation. This is noted by Greenpeace Japan. "It is clear that Japan does not need nuclear power," says Junichi Sato, director of Greenpeace Japan, emphasising that the national safety commission receives donations from energy companies and that the nuclear oversight system is unreliable. He concludes: "Without a proper understanding of the causes of Fukushima and without a review of the procedures at every single reactor, no nuclear plant in Japan should be restarted."

2011

15 December: Nationalise Fukushima to expose Tepco's lies

To truly understand the causes and consequences of the accident that followed the tsunami of 11 March, the Fukushima nuclear plant should be nationalised. This is the appeal made by two Japanese MPs, Tomoyuki Taira and former prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, to whom Nature dedicates its cover. The two are members of an independent commission established on 24 March to shed light on the accident. In an interview given to the magazine, they describe the obstacles encountered along the way — for example, the plant's operating manual: requested from Tepco in August and received a month later with several sections redacted. It took Taira and Hatoyama a further six months to obtain the full manual. Among the points still to be clarified are the causes of the explosions that occurred in the days following the earthquake and the true operational status of the reactors.

25 November: He ate Fukushima salad — now he has leukaemia

Otsuka Norikazu, a well-known presenter on Japanese television, had cheerfully eaten in front of the cameras, alongside a co-host, various foods including a salad grown near the nuclear plant, in a show of support for local farmers. Doctors have diagnosed him with acute lymphocytic leukaemia.

17 November: Rice contaminated by radiation

For the first time since the Fukushima catastrophe, analyses carried out on rice in fields around the city of Fukushima, approximately 60 kilometres from the nuclear plant, have revealed a level of caesium-137 far above the legal limit. The government has halted the sale and transport of rice from the area so as not to reignite the fears that had triggered panic-buying in supermarkets.

9 November: Decommissioning Fukushima will cost 1,100 billion yen — 11 billion euros

Decontaminating the soil, removing the contaminated materials and storing them safely for approximately 30 years, together with the decommissioning of the destroyed reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant, will cost more than one thousand billion yen. The figures were released by Japan's Ministry of the Environment.

7 November: NHK poll — 70% of Japanese want to end nuclear power

A poll conducted by the Japanese television network NHK World shows that nearly 70% of Japanese people want to reduce or abolish the use of nuclear energy in the future. NHK interviewed approximately 2,600 adults. 24% of respondents stated that all of Japan's nuclear plants should be closed, and 42% said their number should be reduced; 23% said the existing plants should be kept running, while 2% want them increased. 49% of respondents said they are very afraid of another nuclear accident.

2 November: Tepco finds signs of nuclear fission in Fukushima reactors

The Tokyo Electric Power Co. announced today that it has detected signs of a recent nuclear fission event in reactor no. 2 at the Fukushima nuclear plant, but ruled out the possibility of a criticality accident greater than the one that occurred on 11 March.

2 November: More than 30 years to decommission Fukushima's reactors

Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission estimates that it will take more than 30 years to fully decommission the reactors at the Fukushima nuclear plant. This is the first time a government body has officially declared a timeline for the decommissioning of reactors 1 and 4, which were destroyed. The removal of nuclear fuel from the pools will begin after 2015, while removal of the molten fuel from the reactors will begin after 2022. The Fukushima plant contains a total of 1,496 nuclear fuel rods in reactors 1 and 3, while there are 3,108 in the spent nuclear fuel pools of reactors 1 and 4.

28 October: Fukushima released twice the radiation estimated by authorities

The estimate of elevated levels of radioactive caesium-137 comes from a worldwide network of sensors. The author of the study, Andreas Stohl of the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, says the Japanese government based its estimates solely on data from Japan and did not account for all the radioactive emissions that spread out to sea.

24 October: Radioactive soil to be stored in forests

The Forestry Agency has decided to allow local authorities to use plots of state-owned land and forested areas for the temporary storage of soil and agricultural produce (rice) contaminated by radioactive substances. Local authorities will be responsible for preparing the land for temporary storage sites, while Tokyo will provide financial support using its reconstruction fund.

13 October: Radioactive strontium found in Yokohama, 250 km from Fukushima

Above-normal levels of radioactive strontium were detected in sediment on the upper part of a residential building in Yokohama, approximately 250 kilometres from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The discovery of 195 becquerels of strontium-90 fuelled concerns that radioactivity may have spread further than the government had predicted.

5 October: Thyroid irregularities in evacuated children

Hormonal and other dysfunctions were detected in the thyroid gland of 10 out of 130 children examined who had been evacuated from Fukushima prefecture. This was reported in a press release issued by a humanitarian organisation based in Nagano prefecture, which has been helping victims of nuclear accidents since 1986 (Chernobyl).

29 September: Disposal of soil covering an area the size of Tokyo

A Japanese government report highlighted the enormity and complexity of the clean-up operations, stating that an amount of irradiated soil equivalent in area to the size of Tokyo would need to be disposed of. The removal of soil contaminated by radioactive caesium risks leaving a pile of radioactive waste of 29 million cubic metres — large enough to fill one of the city's biggest stadiums 80 times over.

21 September: Thousands march against nuclear power in Tokyo

Tens of thousands of people marched through the centre of Tokyo on Monday, calling on the Japanese government to abandon nuclear energy following the Fukushima accident, waving banners and chanting "sayonara nuclear."

10 September: Radioactivity released into the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima estimated at three times previous figure

The amount of radioactivity released into the sea by the Fukushima nuclear power plant is more than three times the level previously estimated by Tokyo Electric Power, the plant's operator. According to calculations by researchers from the Japanese Atomic Energy Agency and Kyoto University together with other institutions, the figure stands at approximately 15,000 terabecquerels.

17 August: Japan withholds results of thyroid tests on Fukushima children

Japan's nuclear regulatory body, the Nuclear Safety Commission, has denied public access to information regarding the results of thyroid check-ups carried out on more than 1,000 children from the Fukushima area who were exposed to radiation.

11 August: Government ignored forecasts on the spread of radioactivity

The Japanese government ignored data from a radiation forecasting and detection system that cost several million dollars, and in doing so also ignored the need to evacuate hundreds of schoolchildren who were directly in the path of the plume coming from the plant. Data on the radiation exposure of people who were mistakenly evacuated to high-radioactivity zones were also unavailable. The negligence was reported by the Associated Press and the New York Times. According to the reports, Japan's radioactivity forecasting system had bee