See what Fukushima looks like 15 years after the nuclear disaster

After the worst earthquake in Japan's history was recorded off the coast of Honshu, a tsunami that reached heights of 130 feet barreled into the coast and easily surpassed seawalls. The combined events resulted in over 18,000 deaths.

All in all, 123,000 houses were destroyed and damages from the disaster totaled $220 billion, making it the most expensive natural disaster in history, per the National Centers for Environmental Information.

Following the earthquake, the plant's reactors were intact and automatically shut down as designed. However, the tsunami soon toppled seawalls in front of the plant, reaching its diesel generators and rendering them ineffective.

With cooling systems unable to operate, the plant's three active cores significantly melted within 72 hours. In the following days, the plant suffered multiple hydrogen explosions, further complicating containment efforts.

Miller described the plant workers as heroes who prevented the situation from worsening further. "They rose to the occasion with smart brainstorming," he said.

Though radiation was released into the surrounding area, no immediate deaths or long-term health effects have been reported from radiation.

However, according to the World Nuclear Association, there were 2,313 "disaster-related" deaths recorded among evacuees, such as deaths from physical and mental stress and the impacts of displacement on elderly residents.

Immediately after the disaster, the town of Okuma was ordered to evacuate. The closest town to the nuclear power plant, Okuma had a population of over 10,000 at the time of the incident.

After some parts of Okuma were cleared for re-entry in 2019, 1,086 residents have since moved back, less than 10% of its population at the time of the disaster, The Japan News reported.

Some parts of the town remain abandoned.

For students of the Okuma Junior High School, the disaster meant relocating to the nearby town of Aizu-Wakamatsu. In 2022, the school merged with two others to form the Manabiya Yumenomori school in the town, Inquirer.net reported.

Housing projects like Okuma Disaster Public Housing aim to provide housing for residents who wish to return, and incentives are offered to potential residents.

In the surrounding areas, personal radiation dosimeters were widely distributed to residents following the disaster. In 2011, 65,000 people in the Fukushima prefecture measured their radiation levels using these devices before returning them for analysis, per Science.

The devices have become commonplace for residents.

After the disaster produced large amounts of contaminated waste, Japan is seeking to maximize the reuse of materials. This includes a plan to recycle nearly 10 million cubic meters of soil that was removed after the meltdown.

The soil — deemed safe enough for reuse — would be used in the construction of roads, railways, seawalls, and other civil engineering structures, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Fukushima is subject to inspections on local, national, and international levels.

The prefectural government monitors inspections of agricultural, forestry, and fisheries products, while Japan's national nuclear regulatory body and the IAEA conduct inspections to ensure safety standards are met.

In the summer of 2023, Japan started to release treated wastewater into the ocean, an undertaking that proved controversial. Though the water goes through an extensive treatment process, which has been approved by the IAEA, many locals in Japan are critical of the operation.

The plan has also drawn criticism from United Nations human rights experts over health and safety concerns.

Though many once-contaminated areas are starting to see redevelopment, some structures look just as they did 15 years ago.

In towns like Futaba, located within 2 miles of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, damaged and destroyed buildings are abundant.

The Japan News reported that Futaba's population is just 2.7% of what it was before the disaster, at 193 residents, many of whom have moved to the area for the first time.

Toru Akama was a former Fukushima plant worker who started an animal shelter following the disaster. Akama began taking in abandoned animals when their owners had left them behind. He's helped over a thousand abandoned pets find new homes since 2011.

"I felt it was my duty to protect them," Akama told AFP News Agency.

In 2015, Unit 1 of the Sendai Nuclear Power Station in Kagoshima resumed operations, becoming the first reactor to restart since the disaster.

Then this January, Unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant was restarted, marking the first use of a reactor by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) — which owned and operated the Fukushima Daiichi plant — since 2011.

Since the Fukushima disaster, many reforms and strict standards have been implemented before the return to nuclear power. Miller said facilities must now feature water-tight doors and seawalls that can withstand even the worst-case scenario tsunamis, waterproof diesel generators, and improved iodine-release filtration systems.

Miller also noted that greater training and knowledge initiatives have been implemented for operators and plant staff, including what he calls a "coach me" culture focused on collaboration.

Despite strict regulations and safety assurances from organizations like the IAEA, many people in Japan are still worried.

An October 2024 survey from the Japan Atomic Energy Relations Organization found 58% of respondents had a positive opinion of nuclear energy, while 40% of respondents said nuclear power should be "gradually reduced."

Only 18% said the country should "increase" or "maintain" its level of nuclear power.