Home Smell from the mouth Walking with a dosimeter: Why Fukushima is not Chernobyl. In Japan, background radiation data in the Fukushima area was underestimated. Exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan.

Smell from the mouth

Walking with a dosimeter: Why Fukushima is not Chernobyl. In Japan, background radiation data in the Fukushima area was underestimated. Exclusion zone of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Japan.

The first measurements of background radiation levels in the Date area of Fukushima, obtained by Japanese radiologists two years ago, were underestimated by a factor of three due to “arithmetic errors in data analysis,” the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reports.

“This error was completely random. In any case, it did not greatly affect the final results of the observations. Even in this case, the annual dose of radiation for the inhabitants of Date will not exceed one millisievert, which is within international standards,” said Ryugo Hayano ) from the University of Tokyo (Japan).

Eight years ago, one of the worst nuclear power plant accidents in Earth's history occurred. The cooling systems of four reactors at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant were disabled as a result of a powerful earthquake and tsunami. This led to a series of hydrogen explosions, melting the core, releasing radioactive substances into the atmosphere, soil and ocean.
The release of large quantities of cesium-137 and a number of other hazardous substances into the soil and groundwater forced the Japanese government in April 2011 to evacuate residents of a zone with a radius of 20 kilometers from the nuclear power plant, and create an exclusion zone with a radius of 30 kilometers, living in which was considered unsafe for humans .

Despite the very reverent attitude towards the word “radiation” in Japan, several tens of thousands of people remained living in the exclusion zone, including in the Date area in the city of Fukushima, who did not want to leave their homes on the recommendation of the government.

Hayano and his colleagues monitored radiation levels in Date for several years, providing local residents with special “storage” radiation sensors. They are pieces of glass covered with a special film that gradually darkens under the influence of ionizing radiation.

If a person constantly carries such a “glass” with him, then by its darkening one can determine what dose of radiation he received over a month, a year, or longer periods. These measurements led to unexpected results - the level of radiation in the vicinity of Fukushima has dropped sharply in recent years and the city has become safe even by Japanese standards.

As the Asahi Shimbun reports, these measurements were recently criticized by physicists from the KEK laboratory, which studies high-energy physics. They noticed that the doses received were suspiciously low not only for the contaminated area, but also for nearby parts of Japan, where emissions from nuclear power plants did not fall.

Such accusations forced Hayano and his colleagues to re-check their calculations and admit that they were indeed incorrect. According to the radiologists themselves, their mistake was that they incorrectly interpreted the measurements from the dosimeters, considering the monthly readings as the results of observations for three months.

Later, other details came to light that cast a shadow on the reputation of the report’s authors. Firstly, it turned out that the measurements were not carried out by them themselves, but by representatives of the local mayor’s office, who distributed “glasses” to all residents of the area and were interested in the return of the remaining townspeople.

Secondly, a third of the “test subjects”, about 27 thousand residents of the Date district, did not give permission to use this data and transfer it to third parties, that is, Hayano and his colleagues.

All this, as noted by Ivan Oransky, the creator of the Retraction Watch portal, has already forced the publisher of the journals in which articles with the results of these observations were published to demand explanations from scientists. A similar investigation is being carried out by the competent authorities in Japan.

More than six months have already passed since the formation of a radiation contamination zone as a result of the accident at the nuclear units of the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. After the accident and the formation of the Chernobyl exclusion zone, this is the second territory in human history from which the civilian population was evacuated due to an accident at an operating nuclear power plant. The population was evacuated from areas with a radius of 20 km around the destroyed nuclear power plant. 78,000 people were evacuated from this part of the contaminated zone. Let us note that in total, including the 30 km radius of temporary resettlement of the population, about 140,000 people were evacuated. The distribution of contamination and the formation of evacuation zones in the area of the Fukushima nuclear power plant is shown in the figure (the indicated dashed isolines indicate the expected accumulated radiation doses - mSv; the eviction of the civilian population was carried out on this basis).

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

Chronology of evacuation from the contaminated zone after the accident at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant

The evacuation of the population from the infection zone was carried out in several stages. The regime for carrying out evacuation measures took into account the territorial location relative to the epicenters of radiation emissions - in nearby areas (up to 3 km from the Fukushima nuclear power plant) evacuation was carried out almost immediately, in more remote areas the command was given to adhere to a regime that excluded citizens from staying outside their homes for a long time. As the situation worsened and the risk of radiation emissions increased, the Japanese government made decisions to increase evacuation zones around the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Below is the chronology of the evacuation:

March 11 at 21.23 – the evacuation of the population from a zone with a radius of 3 km around the nuclear power plant and the sheltering of citizens in a 10 km zone were announced.
March 12 at 5.44 - a decision was made to evacuate the population from a 10 km zone around the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, but by the evening it was decided to expand the evacuation territory.
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 from the probable contamination zone of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant - 2 - the evacuation was carried out from a 10 km zone.
March 15 – Local emergency response authorities carry out iodine prophylaxis during mandatory evacuation in cities, towns and villages within the 20-kilometer exclusion zone around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
March 25 – voluntary resettlement from a 20-30 kilometer radius around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was announced.
April 20, 2011– The Japanese Cabinet Secretary announced, de facto recognized, the existence of a 20 km exclusion zone around the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant. This day should be considered the date of formation of the Fukushima exclusion zone.

Analogies and differences between the Japanese exclusion zone and Chernobyl

Despite the huge geographical, landscape, technical, socio-political differences in place and society, the formation of the FAPP exclusion zone is in many ways similar to those processes that took place in the Chernobyl region of the Ukrainian SSR in April - May 1986. (see also material about).
Amazingly, before the nuclear power plant accident, the territories of the Fukushima province were famous for their high level of organic (ecological) farming and were world famous in the field of green tourism. The same can be said about the territories that found themselves in the zone of radiation contamination after the Chernobyl accident. The Chernobyl region, before the Chernobyl accident, was famous for its recreational opportunities - it was a famous place for recreation, fishing, hunting for Kiev residents, the elite of the Ukrainian intelligentsia and high-ranking officials.
Second– evacuation strategy – the order of eviction of territories depending on the distance from the source of radiation release is also similar to evacuation from the contaminated zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The city and village of Yanov, located in close proximity, were evacuated 36 hours after the Chernobyl accident. During the first week, settlements within the 10 km zone of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant were forcibly evicted, and a week later, settlements located within the 30 km zone of compulsory resettlement...
Third similarity- after some time, the evacuees were allowed to return to their homes and take the most valuable and necessary things. Returns for property in the Chernobyl zone continued for several months and were of a disorderly nature. The evicted Japanese were allowed to return to the abandoned houses also a few months after the evacuation - they were 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 scale of robberies in the Japanese exclusion zone is significantly lower than in the Chernobyl zone - mainly pharmacies, hospitals, and ATMs were robbed. Break-ins of abandoned dwellings were often discovered.
Fifth– presence of – people who refused to evacuate 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 should we go away? We are old, and radiation has already caused us no harm. If we must die, let us die in our 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 materials from 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 search and rescue and evacuation activities extremely difficult. It is obvious that carrying out the eviction of tens of thousands of civilians in conditions of total destruction of infrastructure, shortage 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 documentarians when the time comes to comprehend the disaster. What is it about?
The authorities failed to promptly search for and bury the people killed 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 during a visit to the exclusion zone of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant - 1. Author's website - http://donaldweber.com/2011/fukushima-exclusion-zone/
A sad fate also awaited the livestock abandoned by their owners during the evacuation. As far as we can judge now, the authorities banned the export of livestock and other farm animals, but at the same time, government services did not have the right to seize animals. Abandoned animals died of starvation, often in confinement. The authorities also did not have the right to kill or bury animals. As a result, a significant part of the livestock died from starvation or as a result of lack of human care.
Dramatic images of the consequences of such ill-conceived management of the exclusion zone can be seen in many photographs taken by journalists while visiting the affected area of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Dead livestock 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

A network of observations of the radiation situation has been organized in the FAPP exclusion zone. Gamma background levels are measured at 50 stationary points. Radionuclide contamination of air, soil and water is also assessed. The location of measurement points is shown on the map. The main radioactive pollutants in the FAPP exclusion zone are radioiodine (I131), cesium-134 (Cs134) and cesium-137 (Cs137).

map - radiation monitoring network in the FAPP exclusion zone

The radiation background values in the exclusion zone of the Fukushima NPP - 1 are as follows:

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

It is difficult to talk about the average background values in these areas of the Japanese exclusion zone, since there is a large patchiness of radiation contamination and the maximum levels are areas that fell under the northwestern trace of radioactive fallout, which completely crosses the exclusion zone and goes beyond its limits.
Current data on the radiation situation in the Fukushima nuclear power plant exclusion zone are published weekly on the website Monitoring information of environmental radioactivity level http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/en/ – 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 for September 18, 2011 (sampling was carried out on September 16) - the radioactivity of the 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.

In 2011, on March 11, Japan suffered its worst radiation accident at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant, as a result of an earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

The center of this environmental disaster was located 70 km away. east of the island of Honshu. After a terrible earthquake of 9.1 points, a tsunami followed, which raised the ocean waters 40 m high. This disaster horrified both the people of Japan and the whole world; the scale and consequences are simply terrifying.

Against the backdrop of this tragedy, people, even in distant Germany, bought dosimeters, gauze bandages and tried to “protect themselves” from the radiation consequences of the Fukushima accident. People were in a state of panic, and not only in Japan. Regarding the company itself, which owns the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant, it suffered colossal losses, and the country itself lost the race among a number of other countries in the field of engineering.

Development of the situation

In the 1960s last century, Japan began to pay more and more attention to nuclear energy, thereby planning to gain independence from energy imports or at least reduce them. The country began to increase economic development, and the consequence was the construction of nuclear power plants. In 2011, there were 54 reactors producing electricity (21 power plants), they generated almost 1/3 of the country's energy. As it turned out in the 80s. In the twentieth century, there were situations that were kept secret; they became known only after the radiation accident in the land of the rising sun in 2011.

The construction of the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant dates back to 1967.

The first generator, designed and built by the American side, began to operate back in the spring of 1971. Over the next 8 years, five more power units were added.

In general, during the construction of nuclear power plants, all disasters were taken into account, including the earthquake that occurred in 2011. But on March 11, 2011, there were not only vibrations in the bowels of the earth; half an hour after the first shock, a tsunami hit.

It was the tsunami that followed almost immediately after the powerful earthquake and became the main cause of a catastrophe of such a huge scale, such gigantic destruction and maimed lives. The tsunami carried away everything in its path: be it cities, houses, trains, airports - everything.

FUKUSHIMA DISASTER

Tsunami, earthquake and human factor are the combination of reasons for the accident at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant. This disaster was eventually recognized as the second largest in the history of mankind.

The territory that was allocated for the construction of a nuclear power plant was located on a cliff, namely 35 m above sea level, but after a series of earthworks the value dropped to 25 m. This location can be considered strange: “Why was it necessary to build a nuclear power plant near the water ? After all, their country is susceptible to disasters such as tsunamis.” What happened on that terrible day that changed the lives of not only people, but also Japan as a whole?

In fact, the nuclear power plant was protected from the tsunami by a special dam, the height of which was 5.7 meters; it was believed that this would be more than enough. On March 11, 2011, only three of the six power units were in working order. In reactors 4-6, fuel assemblies were replaced according to plan. As soon as the tremors became noticeable, the automatic protection system worked (this is provided for by the rules), that is, the operating power units stopped working and energy saving was suspended. However, it was restored with the help of backup diesel generators, designed specifically for such cases; they were located at the lower level of the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant, and the reactors began to cool. And at this time, a wave 15-17 m high covered the nuclear power plant, breaking the dam: the territory of the nuclear power plant is flooded, including the lower levels, diesel generators stop working, and then the pumps that cooled the stopped power units stop - all this served to increase the pressure in the reactors , which they first tried to dump into a thermal shell, but after a complete collapse, into the atmosphere. At this point, hydrogen penetrates simultaneously with steam into the reactor, leading to radiation emission.

Over the next four days, the Fukushima 1 accident was accompanied by explosions: first in power unit 1, then 3 and ultimately in 2, resulting in the destruction of the reactor vessels. These explosions resulted in the release of higher levels of radiation from the station.

EMERGENCY ELIMINATION

There were 200 volunteer liquidators, but the main and terrible part was carried out by 50 of them; they were nicknamed “atomic samurai.”

Workers tried to somehow cope with or reduce the scale of the disaster; they sought to cool the three cores by pumping boric acid and sea water into them.

As attempts to eliminate the problem did not have the desired result, the level of radiation increased, the authorities decided to warn about the dangers of consuming water and food sources.

After some success, namely the slow release of radiation, on April 6, the nuclear plant management announced that the cracks were sealed, and later began pumping irradiated water into storage for proper treatment.

During the liquidation of the accident there were no casualties.

Evacuation

Explosion at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The authorities were afraid of radiation exposure of residents and therefore created a no-fly zone - thirty kilometers, the area was 20,000 km. around the station.

As a result, approximately 47,000 residents were evacuated. On April 12, 2011, the nuclear emergency severity level increased from 5 to 7 (the highest level since the Chernobyl accident in 1986).

Consequences of Fukushima

The radiation level exceeded the norm by 5 times, even after several months it remained high in the evacuation zone. The area of the disaster was declared uninhabitable for more than one decade.

The accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan became a huge disaster for thousands of people, killing them. The station area and its surroundings are charged, including radiation elements found in drinking water, milk and many other products, in sea water and in soil. Radiation levels have also increased in some regions of the country.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant was officially closed in 2013, and work is still underway to eliminate the consequences of the accident.

As of 2017, the damage amounted to 189 billion US dollars. The company's shares fell by 80% and it needs to pay compensation to 80,000 people - that's about 130 billion. US dollars.

It will take Japan about 40 years to completely solve the problem with the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

5 years ago, on March 11, 2011, the strongest earthquake in the last century and a half occurred in northeastern Japan. According to experts, the force of the tremors came close to the maximum possible on the Richter scale - 8.9 points out of 9. Following the tremors, a 14-meter tsunami wave swept along the east coast of Japan, hitting the largest island of the Japanese archipelago, Honshu, and destroying several populated areas at once. points in the northeast of the island. As a result of the earthquake in Japan, many industrial facilities caught fire: oil refineries, factories and enterprises. According to emergency services, this tragedy counts 15,892 dead, 6,152 injured and 2,576 missing. But the terrible tragedy did not end there. As a result of the huge tsunami, four of the six power units of the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant were flooded. The wave disabled the reactor cooling system. The accident was the largest in the last 25 years since the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The accident was then assigned level 6 on the INES scale. The same level was assigned to the accident at Mayak in 1957. However, in terms of the degree of consequences and contamination, this radiation accident was later assigned a maximum level of 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The complete elimination of the accident, including the dismantling of the reactors, will take about 40 years, and the economic damage, according to a rough estimate, amounted to about 309 billion USD.

At the end of 2015, the number of evacuees was 120,000. Residents left their homes in a hurry, taking only documents and the most necessary things. No one could have imagined then that they would never return here. After 5 years, the territory of the exclusion zone was taken over by nature, and the surrounding landscapes began to look more like post-apocalyptic ones.

There is a similar post-apocalyptic place on the territory of Ukraine: the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone in the area of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Organized excursions go there; in the spring, on memorial days, thousands of displaced people come there to honor the memory of their relatives. And the so-called Stalkers, in search of unforgettable experiences, illegally enter the Zone through roundabout routes. In Japan, this is much stricter. Unlike Chernobyl, tourists are not allowed here, and journalists are not very welcome. Because of this, this place is even more attractive and shrouded in mystery. All things, cars and products remained in their places, as if frozen in time: full store shelves, tables covered with food in restaurants and canteens, household utensils - as if their owner was about to return and continue the suddenly interrupted meal.

Polish photographer Arkadiusz Podniesinski managed to visit the exclusion zone near the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant.

- “When I first visited Chernobyl 7 years ago, I was sure that a catastrophe of this magnitude would not happen again. Nuclear energy has such advanced safety technologies that a reactor failure simply cannot happen - that’s what scientists and the government said.”

4 years after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, I visited the site, as well as the cities of Namie and Futaba, to talk with those local residents who had returned and photograph the consequences of the disaster.

“I came to Fukushima as a photographer and filmmaker. I wanted to see with my own eyes the impact of the disaster on the world around me. The destruction caused by the tragedy at the nuclear power plant and its consequences. And I also wanted to capture the testimonies of those people who returned here years after the disaster. In doing so, I wanted to know the truth, and not this or that point of view from the media or government propaganda, which tries to underestimate the damage, consequences and possible risks to the environment and people in the future. Even now, despite so much time having passed years, people are not returning home. Many live in a temporary shelter, but there are also those who returned home without following the evacuation order in the same way as you did during Chernobyl."

Warehouse for storing bagged contaminated soil during decontamination.

It is reported that the process of decontaminating the soil will take 30 years, but many believe that this will never happen.
The government allocated $320 million to freeze the soil around the station.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant today has six reactors, with the first reactor being the most damaged by the tsunami wave and the oldest. It poses the greatest radiation hazard. The second and third reactors are partially damaged. At the time of the accident, these power units were stopped by the emergency protection system, but the generators powering the cooling system were damaged due to the wave. Which led to such consequences. Now they are emitting radiation. Isolation structures were built around the reactor. But they are destroyed due to the difficult climate and rainwater.

One of the main unresolved problems after the accident remains the ongoing leakage of radioactive water at the plant. The largest leak at a nuclear power plant after the accident occurred in August 2013. Then a leak of 300 tons of radioactive water with a strontium concentration of about 80 million becquerels per liter was recorded from the tank where radioactive water is stored after cooling the reactors. The Nuclear Energy Control Committee assigned the leak a third level of danger on the INES scale. Another problem is the accumulation of radioactive water in the underground rooms and tunnels of the station as a result of cooling the reactors. Its quantity is constantly increasing due to groundwater, which seeps into the underground premises from the hills.

Abandoned cars

Among the thick grass I found a car. And behind him more and more. It turned out to be a whole traffic jam of cars that had been abandoned by people, most likely nuclear plant workers, during the evacuation. They all make a lot of noise.

Vines grow across the road next to an abandoned car near the city of Naraha, inside the 20-kilometer exclusion zone near the Fukushima nuclear power plant, in northeastern Japan. (David Guttenfelder/AP Photo)

But thousands of unwanted, abandoned cars are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Fukushima.

Many items are now highly radioactive and contain toxic chemicals that poison the land, groundwater and ocean for miles.

Abandoned supermarkets

Some time after the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, a new one emerged - a biological threat. Because people left their homes in a hurry, hoping to return soon; a lot of food was left in the premises, and pets remained in the apartments. First, entire detachments of military personnel, and then looters, emptied apartments, shops and warehouses. With Fukushima, everything happened in much the same way: the shelves of supermarkets and smaller stores were full. But if in the Chernobyl zone there are almost no untouched places left, and children’s toys in an abandoned kindergarten in Pripyat are wearing gas masks to give the picture more atmosphere, then in the exclusion zone near Fukushima all this has so far remained untouched and pristine.

The inscriptions made by the teacher in the ill-fated 2011 still remain on the school board.

One of the classrooms on the first floor of the school. An attentive reader can replace the trace under the board - showing the level of the tsunami wave. In addition to the school curriculum, the board also reflects words written after the tragedy by former residents, schoolchildren and workers, such as: “we will be reborn”, “we can do this, Fukushima!”, “Stupid, TEPCO”, “we were Softball rivals, but always united in our hearts!”, “We will definitely return!”, “Fukushima is strong”, “We must not give up and move on”, “If only we could return to our life at sea”, “Passed It's been two years now and Ukedo Elementary School looks the same as it did on March 11, 2011, this is the beginning of a renaissance."

Farm of Masami Yoshizawa, who returned here after the disaster to take care of abandoned animals. Yoshizawa described how, shortly after the accident, his cows began to develop mysterious white spots on their skin. Masami suspects this is due to the cows eating contaminated grass. Despite instructions from the authorities to destroy all livestock that have been infected, he tries to prove otherwise, is in constant contact with the media, and participates in protests in front of the Japanese Diet. Unfortunately, other than financial support and regular blood testing of cows, there is no one willing to fund more extensive research.

Currently, the Masami Yoshizawa farm has 360 head of cattle. The cracks in the ground were caused by an earthquake.

Is it a coincidence, but in the Fukushima affected area, as in the case of Pripyat, there are not only industrial facilities but also many social buildings, parks and playgrounds. Just like in Chernobyl, the surrounding area is decorated with slogans talking about nuclear energy and a bright future. “Nuclear energy is the energy of a bright future” - today this is an ironic reminder of the destructive consequences of the use of atomic energy. Towns in the area were closely connected to the nearby power plant.

Japan has an obsession with reviving these lands in preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games. However, the experience of a similar accident in Chernobyl suggests the opposite: radioactive isotopes there are still preserved in trees and earth objects. They fall deep into the ground under the influence of rain and are carried by the wind from dilapidated buildings. Nuclear disasters are unique in that they have such a lingering effect. Despite nature's best efforts at remediation and recycling, the radioactive isotopes that were released to the surface as a result of the accident have a half-life of 30 years or more, which means that it will still be a long time before these toxic and radioactive substances cease to have harmful effects . This area has yet to be explored, as a living reminder of why people need to be more careful with nature and the atom.

More than two and a half years have passed since the disaster that occurred at the Japanese Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant due to an earthquake and tsunami, which claimed more than 16 thousand lives. Due to a radiation leak, the government was forced to evacuate the entire local population of about 160 thousand people and declare a 20-kilometer area around the nuclear power plant an exclusion zone. The Tokyo Energy Company is still working to collect contaminated water from the leak site. Former residents can visit their former homes, but cannot stay overnight. Let's see what the Fukushima exclusion zone looks like today, in pictures taken by a Reuters photographer named Damir Sagolj.

Lanterns burn on a street in the deserted village of Namie in Fukushima Prefecture, September 23, 2013. Before the accident at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, more than 20 thousand people lived in Namie.

Storm waves rage through the city of Iwaki, south of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, on September 16, 2013. Almost all beaches in Fukushima Prefecture remain closed following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

A boat brought by the tsunami lies in a field in the village of Namie, six kilometers from the damaged Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, September 22, 2013.

A swimming pool near a school in the tsunami-damaged village of Namie

The chimneys of the damaged Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant are visible on the horizon behind the polluted beach in the village of Namie

A rusty car lies on the coast

Monument to tsunami victims near an abandoned house

Damaged Buddha statue in the exclusion zone

The board shows the radiation level

Interior of a damaged elementary school

The streets of the deserted city of Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture are overgrown with bushes

A traffic light is burning near a damaged house

A woman stands near the grave of her relative in the tsunami-damaged area of the village of Namie.

A vending machine brought by the tsunami stands in the middle of a rice field in the exclusion zone

A Tokyo Power Company worker mows grass in the deserted village of Namie.

Broken clocks, cobwebs and trash in an elementary school building

Kyoto firefighters pay tribute to tsunami victims

A grassy railway in the village of Namie

Thick grass grows around an abandoned house in the tsunami-damaged village of Namie.

Mieko Okubo, 59, tells how her father-in-law Fumio Okubo committed suicide in the room where it happened on September 18, 2013. Fumio committed suicide because he could not accept that he would have to evacuate and end his life's journey elsewhere.