On 11 March 2011 the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Japan changed forever. An earthquake and tsunami destroyed towns and villages on the northeast coast. Some 20,000 people died. During the next 10 days, explosions and meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor plant released a massive amount of radiation.Over 150,000 people had to leave their homes for protection. Experts expect the 20km evacuation zone around the Fukushima plant will be uninhabitable for years. Most people who fled other areas have not returned because of high contamination and worry about unemployment. They dread ending up in a ghost town. The Fukushima nuclear disaster showed once again the inherent risks of nuclear power and exposed the failures in the whole system. Politicians and regulators have ignored their responsibility to protect the public, and the nuclear industry has not been made accountable for its disasters. Similar systemic problems can be found in every country operating nuclear reactors. Every reactor can fail and put millions at risk. Reactors must be phased out and replaced with renewable energy. Greenpeace visited people affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster to ensure their stories are heard.
Featuring the work of Robert Knoth and Antoinette de Jong following their trip to the Fukushima region with Greenpeace in the autumn of 2011