The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (and What We Can Do About Them)

by Lucy Jones

Over the next month, as the nuclear crisis unfolded, they discovered that the situation was much worse than they’d been told, especially for residents of Fukushima. The reactors and spent fuels continued to overheat, requiring them to be bathed in untreated seawater. Seawater is corrosive, and leaks developed. Fires broke out, carrying more radiation into the environment. Storms and wind currents carried the radiation to the northwest—toward Fukushima. Radiation levels in the vicinity grew. After two weeks, even the tap water in Tokyo, over 150 miles south, showed twice the safe level for infants. By the end of March, radiation levels in the seawater immediately adjacent to the plant had levels of radiation that were 4,385 times what was considered safe. It was only with this absolute proof of the severity, a full month after the incident began, that the Japanese government revised the rating of the incident to a 7—on par with Chernobyl.