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‘The Days’: The Story of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster and Netflix’s New Drama

The new eight-part drama covers the build up and fallout of a tragic episode in Japanese history, Esquire, By Laura Martin 01 JUNE 2023

“………………………………… The Days is an eight-part drama that captures the nuclear meltdown that occurred in Fukushima, Japan, in early 2011. It captures the incident from three different perspectives and, like Craig Mazin’s dramatisation of Chernobyl, “seeks to answer this question based on the true events of seven intense days from the perspectives of government, corporate organisations, and the people on site risking their lives,” according to the official synopsis.

But what actually happened in the Fukushima nuclear blast?…………………………………..

The Fukushima disaster is one of only two nuclear explosions to be rated a 7 (the highest rating) on the International Nuclear Event Scale scale, with Chernobyl being the second.

Who was at fault?

According to the BBC: “An independent investigation set up by Japan’s parliament concluded that Fukushima was ‘a profoundly man-made disaster’, blaming the energy company for failing to meet safety requirements or to plan for such an event. However, in 2019 a Japanese court cleared three former Tepco executives of negligence in what was the only criminal case to come out of the disaster.”

Back in 2012, the then-prime minister Yoshihiko Noda said that “the state shared the blame for the disaster”, but in 2017, a court case ruled that “the government bore partial responsibility” and that people who had been evacuated from the area at the time should be paid compensation.

What is happening in Fukushima now?

According to Associated Press: “Japan is preparing to release a massive amount of treated radioactive wastewater [from the plant] into the sea.”

130 tons of contaminated water created daily is collected, treated and then stored in 1,000 tanks on the site, and about 70 per cent of the ALPS-treated water, named after the machines used to filter it, and “still contains Cesium and other radionuclides that exceed releasable limits.” And Tepco’s plan is to release it into the sea surrounding the area, in the hope that the tanks won’t be hit by another earthquake or tsunami before then. Greenpeace have said of this planned action: “The Japanese government’s decision to discharge Fukushima contaminated water ignores human rights and international maritime law”

Meanwhile, fatal amounts of radioactive melted nuclear fuel remain inside the reactors and the decommissioning of the plant is proving near to impossible.

The Days streams on Netflix from June 1.  https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/a44050268/the-days-fukushima-nuclear-disaster-true-story/

June 3, 2023 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | media, Resources -audiovicual