Japanese in the Fukushima area. Music class with scattered instruments on the floor, left after the earthquake

They do not lead excursions, and in general they are forbidden to appear once again within a radius of 20 km from the site of the tragedy. But what to do if you really want to look at what is now an abandoned nuclear power plant and the city, in this case there is a legal way to get to the scene of the accident, which was used by the author of this post, who, at his own peril and risk, put himself in danger radiation exposure.

Japan is still recovering from the disaster of 2011, then powerful tsunami battered the shores of the country, but the worst thing is that it caused an explosion on nuclear power plant"Fukushima-1", located right on the coast (why?). The elements also destroyed communications, many of which have not been restored. So, the railway line of intercity trains was partially destroyed.

Life goes on and people need to move around the country. And outside the 30-kilometer radiation hazard zone, this life is very active. A year ago transport company launched bus route allowing passengers to transit directly through restricted area Fukushima, and then continue on a regular train.

The bus runs only once a day, in the morning from Tatsuta Station in Naraha City to Haranomachi Station in Minamisoma City. Both of them are on the borders of the Zone. I bought a ticket and sat at the front of the bus, right behind the driver. Besides me, there were five passengers. Not the most popular flight.

The bus exits onto Highway 6. This is the main road, but it is closed. Local cars and special vehicles can pass, but they simply wouldn’t let me in on Yokohama numbers. The bus is waving a green flag - drive through.

I have with me two dosimeters given to me by Leo Kaganov and his friend Yura Ilyin. The one on the right is more accurate, it filters out some “extra” frequencies. But most importantly, he can write a GPS track of the route with the level of radiation at each specific point. These are the inventions of Ilyin, and such a device exists in the world in a single copy. A little later, we will decipher the track and create a radiation map of Fukushima. The values, as in the picture, are the very beginning of the Zone.

The road is empty. Sometimes cars come across on it, but rarely. The bus goes non-stop. I will say more: the driver has instructions not to stop under any circumstances. Whatever happens. An obstacle on the road must be rammed.

Everything is already booked. We are passing empty cities and villages.

Someone forgot their car in the parking lot. And will never take it again. It accumulated so much radiation that the driver would die a terrible death.

Sometimes the readings of the two devices almost converged, sometimes they differed greatly. They measure in microsieverts per hour. This is serious radiation.

For four years of desolation, there is not much destruction. But some houses are already in a very bad condition.

Someone even managed to board up the windows from vandals.

But everything is surprisingly intact. No broken windows, no burned cars.

And remember Chernobyl, where literally everything was taken out, even that which was very “phony”.

Don't want a free car or free gas? He probably stayed in the tanks.

The authorities, of course, took measures not to roam. The area is big and they can't control every corner.

Therefore, the streets "deep" are blocked by such fences. They are easy enough to get over.

You can go for a walk in empty supermarkets

Really, take all these cars and sell them to unknowing suckers.

A car dealership with old American limousines, that's a lot of money!

And construction equipment for every taste. Radioactive, so what.

But there is one small nuance. If you are caught, you will be fined 100 million yen (that's 55 million rubles). And you will be caught. Everywhere cameras and patrols.

Though they probably tried. Heaps of abandoned equipment are scattered everywhere. And something about their TVs are all old, not a single plasma!

They threw everything indiscriminately. The evacuation took place immediately.

On the road there are boards with the level of radiation. Increasing.

The dosimeter yells without ceasing. I was distracted by photographing and did not take the most high rate- 6.5 microsieverts. It's a lethal dose if you spend any time here.

Checkpoints with guards appear more and more often.

We pass the turn to the Fukushima-1 station itself. The background is overwhelming. I'm already physically uncomfortable, and I'm waiting for the passage of this section.

The destroyed nuclear power plant is no more than 500 meters in a straight line. It is hidden behind the forest, only one pipe is visible.

And then - lets go. The background is reduced, life returns. Black bags stretch along the horizon, they collect radioactive things (as I understand it). The Japanese plan to deactivate the territory as much as possible in order to at least partially restore life here.

And they succeed. They have already managed to disinfect several villages and one city. A month ago, residents were allowed to return to it, but so far they are in no hurry.

I admire the resilience of these people. They lost everything, got the largest environmental and man-made disaster on their land. Thousands died, hundreds of thousands were injured. The entire nation was knocked down: even those who lived far from the tsunami were in the deepest shock and mourning. And the Japanese got up, dusted themselves off, and began to systematically and calmly restore life to normal.

An hour later, our bus stopped near railway station Haranomachi, in downtown Minamisoma.

Let's talk about the infamous city of Fukushima in Japan; determine where Fukushima is located, mark the boundaries of the city and the Fukushima nuclear power plant on the map of Japan; we will tell you what the Fukushima nuclear power plant is and the events of the “Disaster in Japan Fukushima”; we will show that today, a new truth about Fukushima has been revealed.

On the northeastern side of the island of Honshu, which is located in the eastern country of Japan, there is a small prefecture called Fukushima.

The administrative center of this prefecture is the world famous city With by the same name- Fukushima. This rather unremarkable city is located on an area of about 767.74 square kilometers with a population density of 368.73 people / km². That is, the population of the city of Fokushima is 286,406 people (as of 2014).

Interestingly, in translation from Japanese, if you decompose the word into two parts, "fuku" and "sima", you get original name"island of happiness"

Fakushima Prefecture is bordered by two prefectures. The distance between the center of administration of Fokushima and the capital of Japan, Tokyo, is 288 kilometers. Washed by Fakushima Abukuma, deep river, second in the Tohoku region of Japan.

City `s history

Fukushima did not initially have the status of a city, but became one only in April 1907. Back in the 11th century, it was the village of Shinobuno-sato in the village of Shinobu. Then a tycoon noticed vantage point this village and decided to place his estates there. Already in the 12th century, a castle flaunted on the site of the future Fokushima, and more and more people began to cluster around it. more people who in the future built the city of Fukushima. They began to master crafts, build houses and the city became more and more famous.

Unfortunately, today the castle has not been preserved, but the fame of the city still remains. During the Edo period, the city of Fakushima became even more popular because the inhabitants produced silk very High Quality. About him began to know and outside the prefecture.

After the reforms in Japan called the Meiji Restoration, the city of Fukushima gained a status administrative center prefectures. After that, the national bank decided to establish its branch in Fakushima. It was the 1st national bank in the Tohoku region.

History of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant 1

In 1966, the construction of the future nuclear power plant Fukushima 1 began in Fukushima. This was another project that made the city of Fakushima popular throughout the world. Five years later, in March 1971, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was put into operation by the Tokyo Energy Company (TERCO).

TERSO Company

Let us outline some of the information about the company that owned the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant (later also Fukushima 2).

And so, the Tokyo Energy Company or the so-called TERCO is an energy company eastern country Japan, founded in 1951, ranked 118th in the 2011 Fortune Global 500 archive. The net profit of the energy company was more than 14 billion dollars, and there was an amount in circulation that equaled almost 63 billion dollars (the data given here is fixed as of 2011, that is, before the tragedy on nuclear power plant).

The most prominent of the leaders of TERSO was the Japanese businessman Masao Yoshida. At one time, Masao served as director of the nuclear asset management department of the Tokyo Energy Company, then he found the position of director of the Fokushima 1 nuclear power plant. leading person at the time of the Fokushima nuclear disaster in 2011.

Masao Yoshida died two years after the accident from an esophageal disease. First, in 2011, he underwent surgery, as a result of which a tumor on the esophagus was removed, then his heart was struck by a stroke, last illness, which led to death, became esophageal carcinoma.

Until 1971, the Tokyo Energy Company specialized mainly in the construction of thermal power plants (CHP). In 1953 and 1959, the first two thermal power plants were built, and another company built a little later - in 1992. In 1965, construction was completed and a new hydroelectric power station was put into operation.

Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant is their first nuclear power plant, built in 1971, and it has become one of the twenty-five largest plants. Fukushima 1 gained such popularity thanks to 6 powerful power units. Their capacity was 4.7 GW, and they were designed by am. by the General Electric Corporation.

About General Electric

Let's talk a little about the company that took direct part in the construction and operation of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

General Electric was founded in 1878 by American inventor and later entrepreneur Thomas Edison. He gave his company the name "Edison Electric Light" (including his last name as the basis for the name), but when Edison merged with Thomson-Houston Electric 14 years later, it acquires its modern name.

In terms of company executives, the most famous director of the company was Jack Welch. In 2001, he retired with the largest golden parachute in history, worth $417 million.

His successor, Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors, is Jeffrey Immelt. Concurrently, he is also an adviser to the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama (it is interesting that he received this position after the world famous disaster at the Fakushima nuclear power plant). He, a little earlier (2003), was awarded the title of "Person of the Year" by the Financial Times newspaper.

Interestingly, all owners of shares, whether they are private investors or an institutional organization, cannot dispose of more than 5% of the total amount of shares.

As of 2008, the company's net profit was $17.4 billion, and total amount the proceeds were equivalent to $182.5 billion.

The company ranked 14th in the world famous list Fortune Global 500 in 2009 (compare TORSA - 118th place in 2011), and after 4 years in 2013 General Electric took the crown 6th place in the same list, and the company's capital was estimated at 239.8 billion dollars. This can be considered great achievement and the success of the entire corporation. But here again, modern indicators, as of 2016, submit the Fortune Global 500 list, in which our company dropped six positions and took 12th place. The value of the GE brand is equivalent to $37.216 million.

This corporation has many industries around the world and deals with the production different types technology. This and Technical equipment in the medical field, and a device for photographic technology, and technical installations for everyday life (including lighting), plastic materials and sealants. But the company gained its greatest popularity in the production of power plants, engines, locomotives and gas turbines.

Under power plants and it means the nuclear reactors we are interested in.

Moreover, General Electric itself built reactor plants for only three power units - the 1st, 2nd and 6th. The fourth unit was taken over by the Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, and the largest Japanese conglomeration Toshiba made the reactor units for the 3rd and 5th power units. All architectural designs were commissioned by the General Electric organization from the Ebasco holding company, which was formerly owned by General Electric. And Kajima took up the development of building structures.

Reactors

By type, the reactors that were installed in 6 power units are BWR (from the English Boiling Water Reactor - boiling water reactor). Let's describe the characteristics of each:

IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW:

The first unit of Fukushima 1 (No. 1) had a capacity of 439 MW in pure form and 460 MW gross. It began to be built on July 25, 1967, and was allowed to work on March 26, 1971;
The second power unit Fukushima 1 (No. 2) had a net capacity of 760 MW, and a gross capacity of 784 MW. The project for its construction was launched on June 09, 1969, and put into operation on July 18, 1974.

These two power units will be closed after the liquidation of the accident called Japan Fukushima.

The third power unit Fukushima 1 (No. 3) operated with a similar capacity until the second unit, but was installed a little later - on March 27, 1976. The operation of the fourth unit was completed on March 31, 2011, when the accident occurred at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011;
The fourth block of Fukushima 1 (No. 4) had the same capacity as the two previous ones. It was allowed into operation on October 12, 1978, and closed on the same date as block No. 3;
The fifth power unit Fukushima 1 (No. 5) duplicated the capacity of power units No. 2-4. It began to be built on May 22, 1972, completed and allowed to work on April 18, 1978. Before today the power unit is not closed;
The sixth and last Fukushima Unit 1 (No. 6) was the most powerful. Its power was equivalent to 1067 MW net and 1100 MW gross. It began to cost 1973 November 26, and finished in 1979 the same month.

It is interesting that the company plans to build two more power units with a gross capacity of 1380 MW, and in its pure form - 1339 MW. They planned to make reactors of the ABWR type (Advanced Boiling Water Reactor - advanced boiling water reactor). But the plans were canceled due to the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in April 2011.

Electricity is supplied to the power plant by 4 electricity transmission lines, to which Fukushima-1 is connected. The grid frequency of the Fukushima 1 NPP is 50 Hz.

Briefly about the Fukushima-2 nuclear power plant

On April 20, 1982, the same Tokyo company commissioned another nuclear power plant, Fukushima-2. The electric capacity of the four power units that were installed at the station was 4.4 GW. All power units had BWR-type reactors and had a net power of 1067 MW, gross - 1100 MW. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th power units were launched in 1982, 0984, 1985 and 1987 in turn.

What happened in Fukushima 2011

To date, the territory of the Fukushima nuclear power plant and the entire city have acquired the name Fukushima exclusion zone. Fukushima photos terrify with their paintings, the victims are still suffering from the resulting splash a large number radiation. The tragedy in the city of Fukushima is what makes the heart shrink from sympathy and awareness of the horror of the situation.

The Fukushima exclusion zone got its name because of the infamous accident at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant. In the spring of 2011, due to the earthquake in Japan, Fukushima, the city and its residents were terrified. Three power units of the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant broke down. All the labor force was put in to fix the problems and avert the disaster, and the residents waited in anticipation with thoughts about developments and hope for the best.

But a few hours later, the city was covered by one of the largest tsunamis in the history of the country. If you look at the map, you can see that Fukushima on the map of Japan is located near the coast Pacific Ocean. So it is not difficult to guess that after the tsunami hit Japan, the Fukushima nuclear power plant suffered great damage.

As already known, the head of the nuclear power plant at the time of the disaster was the Japanese businessman Masao Yoshida. One can only imagine what kind of panic arose at the nuclear power plant after the onset of the tsunami, but who, if not the director, needed to take the situation into their own hands. With every hour the system got more and more out of control, all attempts to repair the destroyed installations were in vain. There was only one way out - to prevent the impending explosion, or at least make the consequences of the disaster less terrible.

What did the director of Fakushima 1 NPP do at the moment of critical tension - he went against the orders of the management. They tried everything, and in the end, the only adequate way to prevent the explosion Masao Yoshida considered using sea water. The system was this: water from the sea was poured into the structure in order to cool the reactors and prevent the collection of steam that could cause an explosion.

The TEPCO Corporation, from its headquarters in Tokyo, confirmed the action to cool the reactors in this way, and the workers proceeded to carry out the order. This order was canceled because the company wanted to save money. The Tokyo Energy Company made calculations and found that if you cool the radiators with salt water for two weeks, they will simply have to be thrown away, since they will not be usable. All this decision was made within a period of no more than 20 minutes.

But Yoshida was a joint director, and he was more concerned not with the loss of the company, but with the future threat to people's lives. He continued pouring reactor No. 1 sea water, for which after some time he received a reprimand in oral from the owners of TERSO for insubordination. A very strange fact, because a few hours after the order to stop the filling, the company nevertheless decided to act according to the planned plan by Masao Yoshida.

Many nuclear physicists studying the case of the explosion have repeatedly said that at the moment critical situation Masao Yoshida's actions were the only adequate attempt to avert disaster. But, nevertheless, the tragedy at Fukushima happened, and it is not known what force the catastrophe would have acquired if it were not for him.

Three reactors of the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant exploded, the fourth caught fire, the fire lasted two days. In the vicinity of the accident site and in the city of Fukushima itself, radiation increased thousands of times.

Even more striking is the release of radioactive substances into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Water, by its nature, tends to evaporate and irrigates the entire planet with its droplets contaminated with radiation. And then we are so frightened and horrified by the news in the Fukushima before and after photo column, where in addition to the destroyed city, people post photos of terrible mutations taken both in the city itself and in its environs. And in 10 years or more, this evaporation will spread much further than in the vicinity of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, and we will all be under its influence. Anomalies will become less and less surprising, and strange gene mutations will gradually increase.

The Fukushima 2 nuclear power plant did not crash, and this is a very happy fact, since it is not known what could happen to the country and the atmosphere if even more exploded nuclear reactors and there was a powerful release of radionuclides into the atmosphere.

Tokyo Energy Company losses

For TERSO, the disaster at the Fakushima 1 nuclear power plant was fatal. Even before the explosion of the nuclear power plant, the management had a large debt, and after the accident in Japan at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the owners of the corporation announced that they needed to borrow a huge amount. This was the equivalent of $25 billion that TEPCO was willing to borrow, as of March 2011.

Two months later, in May of the same year, the company announced the results and the financial report showed that the accident caused damage in the amount of more than $ 15 billion. Seeing the unstable state of the company, its leader Masataka Shimizu decided to leave the position.

After an examination of the catastrophe that happened, experts deduced the results. They say that at least 12 billion dollars will be spent on the elimination of the accident, and the time of work will last more than forty years.

To avoid the risk of bankruptcy, a year after the explosion, the Tokyo Energy Company decided to ask for help from the state. Experts say that this act was the basis before the start of the nationalization of the company. In response to a request to borrow $12 billion, the state can put forward its own requirements - to become shareholders, namely, to receive more than half of the company's shares (51%), and eventually increase the number of shares altogether.

Fukushima Japan in art and school

When Fukushima 1 exploded, interest in the city increased. Now Fukushima is a city where life is impossible, Fukushima on the map is indicated by special icons of increased radiation, and former residents, events and the city of Fukushima, dream in terrible dreams.

During the time that has passed since the day of the disaster, many articles, reports and other notes have been published in the media. Art also does not stand still. Over the past 5 years, many documentaries have been made about the disaster in the city of Fokushima.

The first tape, the Fukushima documentary, was filmed in 2011 under the title " Technological disaster: Japanese tragedy by the American Discovery Channel.

Another film "Welcome to Fukushima", directed by Alain de Allo, shows the life story ordinary families who live in the vicinity of the Fukushima nuclear power plant 1. Life vicissitudes, important decisions, problems as they are - the author displays all this in the light of the catastrophe.

Art is actively collaborating with educational program, and opens the eyes of children to world problems not in a scientific light, but from the side human lives. Yes, repeatedly classroom hours children show reports on the disaster in Japan, make a Fukushima presentation and watch documentaries about the events of that year and their consequences, view material on the Fukushima map.

Much truth is revealed before our eyes every day. Investigations do not stand still, more and more obscure facts emerge. Why did management hesitate with the cooling procedure? How is it that they did not have any facilities to prevent similar cases, because the nuclear power plant was located near the location possible earthquake. Many of these questions show us the investigations of journalists and scientists, we hear many stories from the lips of eyewitnesses, we learn interesting things from films.

But the disaster of 2011 will show us more than once that the Fukushima exclusion zone is fraught with many more secrets.

More than six months have already passed since the formation of the radiation contamination zone due to the accident at nuclear blocks NPP Fukushima-1. After the accident at and the formation of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, this is the second territory in the history of mankind from which civilian population due to an accident at a nuclear power plant. The evacuation of the population was carried out from the territories with a radius of 20 km around the destroyed nuclear power plant. 78,000 people were evacuated from this part of the infection zone. It should be noted that in total, including the 30 km radius of the temporary resettlement of the population, about 140,000 people were evacuated. The distribution of pollution and the formation of zones of evacuation of the population in the area of the Fukushima NPP is shown in the figure (the indicated broken isolines indicate the expected accumulated radiation doses - mSv, on this basis the eviction of the civilian population was carried out).

The boundaries of the exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant - 1. And traces of the spread of the release.

Chronology of the evacuation from the contaminated area after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant

The evacuation of the population from the infection zone was carried out in several stages. The mode of carrying out evacuation measures took into account territorial location regarding the epicenters of radiation emissions - in the vicinity of the adjacent territories (up to 3 km from the Fukushima nuclear power plant), the evacuation was carried out almost immediately, in more remote territories, the command was given to adhere to a regime that excludes long stay citizens outside the home. As the situation worsened - the risk of radiation emissions increased, the Japanese government made decisions to increase the evacuation zones around the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The chronology of the evacuation is given below:

March 11 at 21.23 - announced the evacuation of the population from a zone with a radius of 3 km around the nuclear power plant and the shelter of citizens in a 10 km zone.
March 12 at 5.44 - a decision was made to evacuate the population from the 10 km zone around the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, but by the evening there was a decision to expand the evacuation area.
March 12 at 18.25 - it was decided to evacuate the population from the 20 km zone around the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. On the same day, the population was evacuated and from the probable zone of contamination of the Fukushima nuclear power plant - 2 - the evacuation was carried out from the 10 km zone.
March 15th - local authorities response to emergencies carry out iodine prophylaxis during the implementation of mandatory evacuation in cities, villages and villages caught in 20 kilometer zone alienation around the Fukushima nuclear power plant - 1.
March 25 - voluntary evacuation from a 20-30 km radius around the Fukushima nuclear power plant - 1 was announced.
April 20, 2011- The Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan announced, recognized de facto, the existence of a 20 km exclusion zone around the Fukushima nuclear power plant - 1. This very day should be considered the date of the formation of the Fukushima exclusion zone.

Analogies and differences between the Japanese exclusion zone and Chernobyl

Despite the huge geographic, landscape, technical, socio-political differences in place and society, the formation of the FNPP exclusion zone is in many ways similar to those processes that took place in the Chernobyl region Ukrainian SSR in April-May 1986. (see also material about).
Amazingly, before the accident at the nuclear power plant, the territories of the province of Fukushima were famous high level conducting organic (ecological) farming and were world famous in the field of green tourism. The same can be said about the territories that ended up in the zone. radiation pollution after the Chernobyl accident. The Chernobyl region, before the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, was famous for its recreational opportunities- It was famous place for recreation, fishing, hunting for the people of Kiev, the elite of the Ukrainian intelligentsia and high-ranking officials.
Second- evacuation strategy - the sequence of eviction of territories depending on the distance from the source of radiation release is also similar to evacuation from the zone of contamination of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The town and village of Yanov, located in close proximity, were evacuated 36 hours after the Chernobyl accident. During the first week were forcibly evicted settlements 10 km zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and a week later the settlements located in the 30 km zone of mandatory evacuation ...
Third similarity- after a while, the evacuees were allowed to return to their homes and take the most valuable and necessary. Returns for property to the Chernobyl zone lasted for several months and were disordered. The evicted Japanese were allowed to return to the abandoned houses, also a few months after the evacuation - it was allowed to take one package of things and documents of other valuables from the abandoned house.
Fourth- manifestations of looting. Unfortunately, facts of looting (robbery) took place both in and in the province of Fukushima. The scope of robberies in the Japanese exclusion zone is significantly lower than in Chernobyl zone– mainly pharmacies, hospitals, ATMs were robbed. Break-ins of abandoned dwellings were also often found.
Fifth- the presence - of people who refused to be evacuated from the exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. These people are in the exclusion zone secretly, when asked by journalists about the reasons for refusing to evacuate, Japanese self-settlers (and these are overwhelmingly elderly people) say phrases that we have been hearing in the Chernobyl exclusion zone for 25 years - “ Why do we have to leave? We are old, and the radiation already does us no harm. If we must die, let us die in your home «.

Features of the exclusion zone in Japan

Unfortunately, a detailed report on the organization of the evacuation of the population from the exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant could not be found. Nevertheless, some conclusions can be drawn using the materials of the Japanese media.
The catastrophic consequences of the tsunami, which resulted in the death of thousands of people and the subsequent large-scale radioactive contamination, made it extremely difficult to carry out search and rescue and evacuation activities. Obviously, to carry out the eviction of tens of thousands civilians in conditions of total destruction of infrastructure, lack of energy, means of protection, etc. - a difficult task. This moment in the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant will be one of the most unpleasant, resonant in the descriptions of Japanese documentary filmmakers when the time comes to comprehend the disaster. What is this about?
The authorities failed to promptly search for and bury the people who died in the disaster. The photo below was taken in the exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant by photographer Donald Weber.

Human corpse in the exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant

This is a photograph of a human corpse found by a photojournalist while visiting the exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant - 1. Author's website - http://donaldweber.com/2011/fukushima-exclusion-zone/
A sad fate awaited the livestock abandoned by the owners during the evacuation. As far as we can judge now, the authorities have banned the export of livestock and other farm animals, but at the same time, public services had no right to take the animals. Abandoned animals starved to death, often locked up. The authorities also did not have the right to kill and bury animals. As a result, a significant part of the livestock died of starvation or as a result of the lack of human care.
Dramatic footage of the consequences of such ill-conceived management of the exclusion zone can be seen in many photographs taken by journalists during their visit to the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant.

Dead cattle in the exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant

Abandoned farm in the exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant

Abandoned ostrich farm in the exclusion zone of the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant

Consequences of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant

Radiation situation in the exclusion zone of the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant

In the exclusion zone of the FNPP, a network of observations of the radiation situation has been organized. Gamma background levels are measured at 50 stationary points. An assessment of radionuclide contamination of air, soil and water is also carried out. The location of the measurement points is shown on the map. The main radioactive pollutants of the FNPP exclusion zone are radioiodine (I131), cesium-134 (Cs134) and cesium-137 (Cs137).

map - radiation monitoring network in the FNPP exclusion zone

Values radiation background in the exclusion zone of the Fukushima NPP - 1 the following:

territory within a radius of 3 km zone from the nuclear power plant - from 1900 to 7500 microR/h;
territory within a radius of 3-5 km of the exclusion zone from the nuclear power plant - from 4300 to 3400 microR/h;
territory within a radius of 5 - 10 km of the zone from the nuclear power plant - from 50 to 1900 microR/h;
territory within a radius of 10 - 20 km of the zone from the nuclear power plant - from 50 to 2900 microR / hour;

It is difficult to talk about the average background values in these zones of the Japanese exclusion zone, since there is a large patchiness of radiation pollution and maximum levels - these are areas that fell under the northwestern trace of radioactive fallout, which completely crosses the exclusion zone and goes beyond it.
Up-to-date data on the radiation situation in the exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant are published on a weekly basis on the website Monitoring information of environmental radioactivity level http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/en/ – of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan.
Data on the radiation situation at the Fukushima nuclear power plant itself can be found on the website of the operating organization Tokyo Electric Power Company’s http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/
The specific activity of sea water near nuclear power plant reactors is also constantly monitored (several times a day and from different depths). According to the report dated September 18, 2011 (sampling was performed on September 16) - the radioactivity of water is below that detected for iodine-131 less than 4 Bq / l, cesium-134 - less than 6 Bq / l, cesium-137 - less than 9 Bq / l.

The nuclear disaster that occurred in 2011 at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan is the most terrible accident that occurred at a nuclear power plant after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986. During the catastrophe, the Japanese authorities created a 20-kilometer exclusion zone from which 160,000 people were evacuated. Four years have passed since the tragedy, and nature was able to regain what was once taken away from it. Hundreds of houses, factories, vehicles- all this was abandoned, and absorbed by the wild nature ...

1. Dozens of abandoned cars on the road near the power plant are overgrown with grass and shrubs

2. Many cars abandoned on the road are now in the middle of the forest

3. A motorcycle chained to a pole was left here hours before the crash.

4. Four years without maintenance and grass and bushes have completely swallowed the track, overgrowing cars

5. Karts in the amusement park lined up at the start

6. Photographer Arkadiusz Podniesinski, who is the author of the photographs, holds a dosimeter in his hands, showing radiation equal to 6.7 μSv / h

7. Cracks in the earth caused by an earthquake that led to a tsunami, which caused the disaster. The grazing cattle belong to Masami Yoshizawa, a landowner who returned to his farm after the disaster.

8. Dump of contaminated TVs among the abandoned buildings overgrown with forests in the Fukushima area

9. Huge warehouses with plastic bags with contaminated soil

10. To save space, the bags were stacked one on top of the other. 120,000 residents of this area have not yet been allowed to return to their homes.

11. Authorities told landowners that all bags of contaminated soil would be disposed of.

12. Chaos in the bookstore that was abandoned after the earthquake

13. Computer screens covered in bird droppings sit untouched in a school in a village near Fukushima.

14. Huge spider webs in a supermarket where untouched food is still lying on the floor.

15. Dozens of abandoned chained bicycles are waiting for their owners.

16. The disaster was caused by an earthquake that generated a tsunami, the effects of which are visible throughout the exclusion zone. In the photo is a sports hall of one of the schools, with a failed floor

Portal for the student. Self-training

Japanese in the Fukushima area. Music class with scattered instruments on the floor, left after the earthquake

City `s history