Encore: Meltdown at Fukushima | The Devil's Chain Reaction | 4
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Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Against the Odds early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. This episode originally aired in 2022. Tetsuro Ito hurries through a hallway at the Kante, the Japanese Prime Minister's residence in the heart of Tokyo. ♪

Ito is the head of the government's Crisis Response Team. It's 2 am on March 15, 2011, four days since a massive earthquake and tsunami caused widespread destruction on the eastern coast of Japan. A few minutes ago, Ito received an email with urgent news that he needs to share immediately with Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

He reaches Khan's office and pauses outside the door. He takes a deep breath to settle his nerves. Khan has a notoriously bad temper, and he's already on a short fuse. But there's not a second to lose. Ito opens the door and finds Khan meeting with several aides. They frown at him, annoyed by the intrusion. Khan looks especially displeased. "What is it?" "Sir, I need to speak with you alone."

Kahn looks dubious, but motions for everyone else to leave. "So, what was so important that you had to interrupt me?" "Tepco is saying they might abandon Fukushima." At this, Kahn's bloodshot eyes go wide.

TEPCO is the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owns and operates the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Ito explains to Khan what he's heard, that TEPCO is thinking about pulling all their workers from the plant and letting the reactors melt down. Ito can hear Khan trying to control the anger in his voice. How bad would this be? Worse than Chernobyl. And that's only half the problem.

Ito points to a map of Japan on the wall. He explains that there's a second nuclear power plant ten miles from Fukushima. If Tepco abandons the first plant, it will leak enough radiation that they'll have to abandon the second one as well. Then, it will also melt down, and possibly explode, making the required evacuation area much bigger. Kahn looks at him, hard,

"How big of an evacuation area are we talking about?" Ito swallows. "Big enough to threaten Tokyo." Even saying the words aloud makes Ito's heart pound. Tokyo is the political, financial, and cultural capital of Japan. 37 million people live in this metropolitan area. Where on earth would they go?

Ito carefully explains their options. They could call in the military to help, or lean on the Tokyo Fire Department to deploy its elite hyper-rescue squad. They have firefighting equipment that might be capable of cooling the damaged reactors. But Ito can see that Khan isn't listening. The Prime Minister is still staring at the map, absorbing the magnitude of the crisis. Finally, he turns around, his face red with anger.

Get me every goddamn person at TEPCO on a video call. Immediately. Sir, it's 2 AM. They're probably asleep. Then wake them up! They don't get to sleep when they're threatening to destroy our country! Ito nods and rushes from the office. He'll set up the meeting with TEPCO, but at some point, they've got to deploy outside help to assist the workers at the plant. This has to be an all-out mobilization to save Japan.

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Progressive Casualty Insurance Company & Affiliates. Price and coverage match limited by state law. From Wondery, I'm Mike Corey, and this is Against the Odds. On March 11, 2011, an earthquake and tsunami sparked a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.

Hydrogen gas leaks caused explosions at two reactors, increasing radiation levels and endangering the lives of the workers fighting to save the plant. And with the power still out, those workers had no way to cool the reactors except by pumping seawater into them. If that stopgap solution failed, the result could be a total meltdown and the worst nuclear disaster in human history.

Things got so bad that TEPCO's senior management considered abandoning the plant entirely and letting the reactors melt down. But a small group of workers defied their own bosses and put their lives on the line to save their country. This is Episode 4: The Devil's Chain Reaction.

Plant Superintendent Masao Yoshida blinks under the harsh overhead lights as he staggers into the video conference room of the ERC, the Emergency Response Center. It's just before dawn on March 15th, four days since the earthquake and tsunami hit.

After Yoshida collapsed from exhaustion a few hours ago, aides put him in a dark closet to get some rest. His head is still foggy and the bright lights and bustle of the ERC are overwhelming. He lets his aides lead him to his chair and bring him a bottle of water. Yoshida takes a sip and tries to pull himself together. Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called for a video conference with the ERC and TEPCO headquarters in Tokyo.

Yoshida butted heads with Khan during his visit to the plant three days ago, and the situation has only gotten worse since then. He's wondering what the Prime Minister could possibly have to say now. A hush falls over the ERC when Khan appears on the screen. He immediately launches into a tirade, mostly focused on TEPCO management. Your actions are unacceptable! You cannot abandon the plant under any circumstances!

Yoshida feels a wave of unease ripple through the room. What is Kan talking about? No one at Tepco has mentioned anything to him about abandoning the plant.

But apparently, Khan has a different impression. His face turns red as his tirade continues. "If you abandon the plant, the Tepco Company will be destroyed. You'll be destroyed." Yoshida understands Khan's anger, to some extent. He himself has been clashing with his bosses at Tepco throughout the crisis.

But then the Prime Minister turns his anger on the workers, Yoshida and his staff. And what about you lazy cowards at the plant? Don't you see what will happen if you run away? The plant will explode. And then we'd have to abandon the other plant up the road. And then it would explode. The fallout could reach as far as Tokyo. It would make our worst fears a reality. It would be the devil's chain reaction.

The more Yoshida watches, the angrier he becomes. He looks around the room at the faces of his brave workers and sees that everyone's eyes are cast down in shame. But they don't need scolding right now. They need encouragement. They've gone days without sleep. No one is working harder. Someone needs to stand up to the Prime Minister's bullying. And as the leader of the plant, that duty falls on Yoshida.

With an angry grunt, Yoshida jumps to his feet. What he's about to do will almost certainly cost him his job, but he doesn't care. He undoes his belt buckle and untucks his shirt. An aide whispers to ask what he's doing, but Yoshida ignores her. He turns his back to the camera, drops his pants, lifts his shirt tails, and moons the Prime Minister.

It's a shocking act of defiance. Yoshida stands there for several seconds to make sure no one thinks it's an accident. He wants the leader of his country to take a good long look at his bare ass. When he feels like he's made his point, Yoshida pulls up his pants and turns back to his workers. "Turn off the video. Let's get back to work."

He tucks his shirt in and takes a breath. For the first time in hours, he no longer feels groggy or weak. His anger has energized him and his workers. They hustle back to their stations, ready for whatever this crisis throws at them next. But then, for the third time in four days, an explosion rocks the plant. Yoshida leaps up from his workstation, grabs his safety helmet, and runs to the window.

He sees dark smoke pouring out of Reactor Building 4. Is it another hydrogen explosion? Or something worse? He turns to an aide. "Call every control room. Find out what caused that explosion, and get me temperature and pressure readings for all six reactors." The aide bows and hurries off. Yoshida's mind races. He hopes this latest explosion is the result of another hydrogen gas leak, and not a rupture of the reactor core.

But even if that's the case, these explosions are clearly starting to have a cascading effect. The plant is becoming more unstable and dangerous by the minute.

Yoshida decides he no longer has any choice. He has to do what's best for the well-being of his workers. He returns to his workstation, picks up his phone, and calls the plant safety officer, Mari Sato. "Begin evacuating all non-essential personnel immediately, yes, even in the control rooms, and gather everyone who's staying in the ERC." Yoshida hangs up and puts his head in his hands.

by ordering the evacuation. He's just made it official. The Fukushima Daiichi plant cannot be saved. All they can do now is try to contain the disaster. An hour after the explosion at Reactor 4, the ERC building is in turmoil.

Mari Sato stands in a hallway shouting instructions. She's never felt so overwhelmed in her life, but she has to keep calm and do her job. "Everyone head to the evacuation buses outside. Please don't take any more than one mask. We're running low." But no one listens to her. People grab whole boxes of masks and run for the door. The people behind them are reduced to covering their faces with their shirts.

Yoshida ordered Sato to evacuate 600 workers to a nearby site, where they'll be on standby. As soon as the radiation from this latest explosion is contained, they can return to assist with further containment efforts. They're not actually abandoning the plant, but in the chaos of the moment, that's exactly what it feels like.

Sato turns and sees three young firefighters sitting on the floor. She runs up to them. "Didn't you hear the evacuation order? You've got to leave!" One of them looks up at her. "We're not moving. We have a duty to stay." Normally, his brave words would touch Sato, but she simply doesn't have time to debate right now. She grabs one firefighter by the hand. "Please leave! You have to live to fight another day!" "We need to save the plant. We're staying."

Sato finally loses her temper. "There's no plant to save anymore, don't you get it? The plant is doomed!" All three firefighters look at her in shock. She even surprises herself with the outburst. It's the first time she's said out loud what she and everyone else there is thinking. Since this latest explosion, the Fukushima plant is beyond saving. It's now a disaster zone.

She tries to explain this to the young firefighters. "People like you will have to clean it up for future generations. You still have an important role to play, but that will come another day." The three firefighters rise, their eyes welling up with tears. Sato hurries them along. Every minute they linger at the plant increases their risk of radiation sickness. After 20 minutes, it looks like all the non-essential workers have left.

Sato checks the building one last time for stragglers, her footsteps echoing in the empty hallways. She even checks the men's bathroom in case some stubborn holdout has hidden in a stall. Her last stop is the main room of the ERC. There, the last 70 or so essential workers have gathered

As she enters, Superintendent Yoshida catches her eye and calls her over. "Have you evacuated everyone?" "Yes. The only people remaining are in this room. Good work. You may leave now too." Sato gives him a deep bow and turns to leave. Before she closes the door, she takes one last look around. She studies the men's faces, trying to fix them in her mind.

The masks have all been taken, so she puts a handkerchief over her mouth before going outside. She's the last one to evacuate. As she leaves, she tries to hold on to that mental image of the 70 people in the ERC. Her co-workers, people she's known for years. She's convinced she's never going to see any of them alive again.

Ten minutes after the plant evacuation ends, Ikuo Izawa notices an eerie quiet settle over the ERC. He sits at a table in the center of the room, examining the faces around him, wondering what set these men apart. Some are here because it's their duty, but many of these workers volunteered. A few top staff members ignored their orders to stay and snuck out during the evacuation.

Izawa saw them trying to blend in. They looked ashamed of themselves. He tries not to judge them. Some have young children. Instead, he concentrates on being grateful for those who have stayed. He wishes he were back in his comfort zone in the control room. But the control rooms are now too contaminated to man continuously. Everyone will have to stay here, in the ERC, with only quick forays to other parts of the plant as needed.

Plant Superintendent Yoshida raises his hands to quiet everyone. Izawa is worried about Yoshida's ability to lead. After all, the man collapsed last night, and after he woke up, he mooned the Prime Minister. He wonders if Yoshida has lost his mind. Izawa notices several other people exchanging furtive glances, apparently thinking the same thing.

When the tall, thin Yoshida finally has everyone's attention, he speaks. Izawa listens closely. These next words could set the tone for the entire rest of the operation. "I don't know about all of you, but I'm starving. Let's get something to eat." Izawa is stunned. Maybe Yoshida really has gone crazy. But then, a few people start laughing.

Pretty soon the whole room joins in. Sure, why not? It's not like we have any work to do. People push back their blue plastic chairs and head for the cabinets in the corner. There are rice cakes and cookies inside. Someone passes a package to Izawa. Chocolate chip. They're delicious.

Someone else hands Izawa a cup of water. He raises it and taps cups with several people around him. "A toast to Fukushima! Cheers!" They laugh and sip the water like it's sake. Izawa shakes his head in amazement. When the words "Let's eat" first emerged from Yoshida's mouth, he thought the old man had cracked. But he knew exactly what he was doing.

The overworked men haven't looked this chipper in days. They're like soldiers guarding a doomed fort, laughing in the face of death. Izawa knows that all they can do is pump as much water as they can into the reactors, but their sources of water keep running out. What's most frustrating is that they're on the shore of the Pacific Ocean, but to pump that water, they're going to need better equipment and lots of help.

Ezawa takes another bite of his chocolate chip cookie and hopes that help is on the way. When you're hiring, time is of the essence. That's why more than 3.5 million businesses worldwide use Indeed to find exceptional talent fast. Indeed's powerful matching engine works quickly. So quickly that, according to Indeed data worldwide, every minute, 23 hires are made on Indeed.

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Head over to Symbiotica.com and use code "Odds" for 20% off and free shipping on your subscription order. It's March 15th, four days since the earthquake and tsunami. Prime Minister Naoto Kan glances up to see his 4:00 PM appointment arrive, the Secretary of Defense. Normally, Kan's office is immaculate, but today there's cartons of half-eaten food and empty water bottles strewn everywhere.

Kahn snaps at an aide to clean up everything and then get out. As soon as they're alone, Kahn looks hard at the secretary. "I'm considering calling on the Hyper Rescue Squad." "Really? This isn't exactly a firefighting operation, sir." "That's what the Tokyo Fire Department keeps saying, but the superintendent at Fukushima specifically requested them. The Hyper Rescue Squad apparently has much stronger pumps than what's currently available at the plant."

"Do you have jurisdiction?" "No, but I'm going to lean on them with everything I have. In the meantime, I have a request for you. Can the military help?" "With what?" Khan explains the situation at the plant. Nuclear facilities have to store old spent uranium fuel rods in large pools of water to keep them cool, often for many years.

At Fukushima, those pools are on the upper stories of the reactor buildings. Typically, they're protected. But the hydrogen explosions have blown the roofs off the buildings, exposing the pools. Some appear to be leaking water. As a result, the uranium rods are overheating and threatening to melt. They have to get this problem under control before any other rescue efforts can start.

The Secretary of Defense listens, then tells Khan that the military can help. They have helicopters that can carry huge tanks of water. If they can hover the helicopters over the pools that hold spent fuel rods, they can dump water on them to confine the radioactivity. Khan agrees that this sounds promising. He picks up the phone and asks an aide to get the TEPCO CEO on the line. He expects the CEO to be grateful for the outside help.

But to his surprise, the CEO rejects the plan. The last thing we need is more outside water being dumped on the plant. We need to regain power. That's what all of our efforts should focus on right now. That's not what anyone on the ground has told me. Explain to me exactly why you want the power restored first.

That way, we can get the original cooling systems working. They're much more effective than fire trucks or helicopters. Plus, that will allow us to save as much of the plant as possible. After all, we have a lot of money invested in it.

Kahn can't quite believe what he's hearing. He feels rage rising within him. Money? You're talking about money? Well, yes. The reactors are very expensive. If we can just get the power back and save what's left... Are you out of your mind? The place is a disaster zone. There's no saving Fukushima.

The Prime Minister slams down the phone. He can't believe what a bunch of arrogant fools those TEPCO people are. But in a strange way, he's almost grateful they've made his decision easy. He can't depend on TEPCO to fix this. He's going to pressure the Tokyo Fire Department to mobilize the Hyper Rescue Squad and not just them.

He looks at the Secretary of Defense and he nods. It's time to get military helicopters into the air over Fukushima. It's just after sunset on March 18th, seven days since the start of the Fukushima crisis. Plant Superintendent Masao Yoshida pushes his way through the crowd surrounding the windows at the ERC. He scans the horizon for any sign of fire trucks in the distance.

Yoshida's plan is coming together. The Prime Minister somehow convinced the Tokyo Fire Department to bring in the Hyper Rescue Squad. But the deployment of the squad is taking longer than expected. There's a lot of red tape involved, and the earthquake and tsunami have destroyed the roads, making it hard for the fire trucks to reach the plant.

In the meantime, Yoshida fears his men are losing hope. They've been working non-stop since the evacuation three days ago, running back and forth to the reactor buildings to fix pipes, unclog vents, and check gauges. It's all vital work to reduce the possibility of another explosion, but without more water, all of their efforts might all be in vain.

After a few empty minutes, Yoshida returns to his workstation. While they're waiting for the fire trucks, he has one important thing to do. He dials a number and waits for the familiar voice on the other end. "Hello? Who is this?" "It's me, Yoko. How are you?" "Masao, are you alright? I thought you were dead." It's Yoshida's wife. This is the first time he's spoken to her since the crisis started.

He hasn't had a spare second to call her. He also didn't want his employees to see him attending to personal matters in the middle of an emergency. His duty lay in saving the plant, not indulging his feelings. But after five days, he couldn't wait any longer. His wife doesn't cry. She seems surprisingly calm. She asks again if he's really alive.

He chuckles. "I'm alive for now, but I can't speak long. I'll have to tell you more tomorrow." "Wait, I saw a helicopter on the news dumping water. Did that fix things?" Yoshida sighs. The military's attempts to dump water into the spent fuel pools have largely failed.

The helicopters couldn't get as close as they hoped because of the high levels of radioactivity leaking out of the reactor buildings. And strong winds from the ocean diverted most of the water before it reached the pools. He explains this to his wife: "It helped a bit, but we need much more water. The Hyper Rescue Squad fire trucks are now our only shot. They'll be able to pump water from the ocean.

"Sea water? Won't that ruin the reactors?" "It will, and Tepco doesn't know we're going forward with that plan, so keep that our secret. But if it works, it will prevent an explosion in the reactor cores." "And will it work?" Yoshida doesn't know how to answer that, and out of the corner of his eye, he sees a worker trying to get his attention. He allows himself a rueful smile. "I have to go. Goodbye, my Yoko."

Yoshida hangs up and looks at the worker. "Yes, what is it?" "They're here, sir!" Yoshida looks over to the windows. In the distance, he can see the flashing lights of the fire trucks from the Hyper Rescue Squad. His knees go weak with relief. If all goes well, soon they'll be able to cool the reactors with a limitless water source: the ocean.

Yoshida fixes his tie and calls for everyone's attention. They've got a disaster to contain, and there's no margin for error. Osamu Kamanaka throws open a panel on his fire truck and starts pulling out the thick, heavy hose inside.

He's a squadron captain with the Hyper Rescue Squad. His men stand behind him, dragging the hose back until it's all out of the truck. All 380 yards of it. Then Kamanaka turns and addresses his crew. Alright everyone, remember we've only got one hour. Yes sir. Move out!

They run as fast as they can towards the ocean, but the hose is heavy and awkward, flopping around and dragging on the ground while they run. Kaminaka is in front, guiding his men through the debris. Go left here. I think I see a path. Every so often, they run into a pocket where their radiation detectors spike. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up, back up, back up.

Before they arrived, Kamanaka was debriefed. He learned that the plant's in-house fire crews had been pumping water from various pools of seawater around the plant. Pools created by the tsunami. But those pools have run dry. Their only hope now is to pump water directly from the ocean.

But the ocean is over a mile from the reactors, too far for the standard pumps and hoses at the plant. That's why the Hyper Rescue Squad is here. They have miles of heavy-duty hose at their disposal, and the pumps on their trucks are more powerful than anything the plant's fire crews have. But the tsunami has left behind so much debris, it's impossible for the squad's trucks to get anywhere close to the ocean.

There's twisted metal and refrigerator-sized chunks of concrete everywhere. It's impassable. So Kamanaka is trying plan B. Their hoses come in distinct segments, seven of them, each 380 yards long and weighing 220 pounds. His team has removed the first segment of hose from the truck, and they're dragging it, by hand, towards the ocean.

Once that piece of hose is in the water, they'll run back for a second segment, retrace their steps, and connect segment two to segment one. Then they'll link together five more segments in the same way, until they have a long enough hose to pump water from the ocean to the reactors. This plan has to succeed. Now that the military helicopters have failed, pumping seawater is their only hope.

Kamanaka can feel his arms getting weak and his legs dragging from carrying the heavy hoses. He's in good shape, but it's exhausting work. He pauses and looks around, trying to find the clearest path through the debris. "There's a way through over there! Let's… ugh!" Kamanaka is suddenly sprawled on the ground, his shins screaming in pain. He somehow missed a step and went down hard.

But one of his crewmen is there to lend a hand and drags Kamanaka to his feet. "I'm okay. Let's keep going." "Pull! Pull! Almost there! Keep going! That's it! Come on, let's go! Pull! Keep pulling!" After negotiating a few more dangerous twists and turns, they finally reach the ocean.

They splash a dozen feet out and drop the end of the hose into the water. Kaminaka wishes he could let his men rest. They look exhausted, with their hands on their knees and chests heaving. But this is just the first segment of seven. He claps his hands, and they all start jogging back to the truck. Plant Superintendent Yoshida nervously checks the clock and sees that it's 12.30 a.m.

He glances back to one of the televisions mounted on the wall of the ERC. The vice in his chest is tighter than ever. The Hyper Rescue Squad has been here for seven hours. They should have gotten the water pumping by now. He can't understand what's taking them so long. Everyone in the room is huddled around him, biting their nails and watching the screen nervously.

It's a feed from one of the cameras on site. It shows the Unit 3 reactor, and in front of it, the Hyper Rescue Squad's fire trucks. Extending from the top of one truck is a hydraulic crane, seven stories tall, with a built-in hose. That's how they'll get water to the top story of the reactor, where the spent uranium pools are causing most of the radiation leaks. But first, the seawater needs to reach the crane,

Yoshida can see the firemen scurrying about on the video monitor, attaching hoses to the truck. Then, the fire chief raises his hand and someone hits a switch. The next few minutes are excruciating.

It takes a while for the water to travel the long distance from the ocean to the crane. At one point, Yoshida catches the eye of control room supervisor Izawa and gives him a reassuring nod. But he's not as confident as he's pretending to be. Suddenly, the flat hose on the screen inflates like a balloon. The bulge races up the crane. Yoshida holds his breath.

A second later, a geyser of water explodes from the nozzle on top of the crane. It gushes down onto the scorching hot fuel rods, where it instantly turns into a huge cloud of steam. The ERC erupts in celebration. Everyone around Yoshida whistles and cheers and hugs one another. Yoshida lets himself feel this moment of triumph too, but only for a few minutes.

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Control room supervisor Ikuo Izawa is getting steamed. It's the morning after the hyper-rescue squad's trucks arrived, and he's standing at a desk in the ERC, arguing with a fellow supervisor. They're debating which reactors should get priority for pumping water.

Izawa presses his point. "Reactor 2 is still the most dangerous. It took heavy damage in the explosions at Units 3 and 4, but Reactor 2 hasn't even had a hydrogen explosion. Reactor 3 is where most of the radiation is leaking from. We have to control that first."

It's a frustrating argument for Izawa, because the other supervisor isn't necessarily wrong. All the reactors need water. Since the fire crews arrived, he's feeling optimistic for the first time in days. But there still isn't enough manpower to get water everywhere it needs to be.

Izawa sighs and prepares to plead his case again when he hears murmuring from the men. Look! Who's that? They're on their way back. I can't believe… they're coming back! People have started gathering at the windows of the ERC. Izawa can't tell whether the murmurs are good or bad, but when he stretches to his tiptoes to look, his heart swells.

There are several shuttle buses rumbling down the road. The words "Fukushima Power Plant" are emblazoned on their sides. It's the workers who were evacuated five days ago. They've been on standby off-site. And now that the water is flowing and radiation levels have dropped, they're finally returning. He glances over at Plant Superintendent Yoshida, who winks at him.

He watches the relief workers get off the buses and head into the ERC building. When they enter the room, it feels like a gigantic reunion. All his men back together. Now that they have more people, they can build a permanent pipeline from the ocean to keep water pumping through the reactors.

A permanent pipeline will be more durable and stable and allow them to deliver far more water than mere hoses. That will bring them closer to the ultimate goal: a cold shutdown. That's when temperatures in the reactors drop below the boiling point of water and the danger of a Chernobyl-level disaster passes.

Even then, Izawa knows there's still months of work ahead. One slip and they could be plunged right back into crisis. Superintendent Masao Yoshida stares up at his apartment building. It's a surreal sight. This is the first time he's left the ERC Crisis Center in over a month. There were moments when he thought he'd never see his home again. But here he is.

With a permanent pipeline now in place and over 100 fire trucks pumping water through it, the cooling operation is going well, which means Yoshida can finally slip away and come home for a few days. He looks at his apartment balcony and he smiles. The last time he saw the rhododendrons there on the morning the earthquake struck, they hadn't bloomed yet. Now they're ablaze with pink and purple flowers.

He walks toward the building's front door, only to be blocked by the doorman. Yoshida chuckles and punches the doorman's shoulder. "What? You don't recognize your old friend Yoshida?" The doorman's eyes pop open. Yoshida doesn't blame him for not recognizing him. Weeks of stress have melted weight off his already thin frame. He hasn't shaved, and his suit and tie are long gone, so contaminated that he had to throw them away.

He's wearing secondhand clothes, baggy pants, and a worn shirt. Yoshida takes the elevator to his floor and walks into his apartment. He's not sure why, but he hesitates before putting his key in the door. After a month of chaos, things are eerily calm here. He finally steps inside. "Yoko?" His wife appears from around the corner, holding a book, for a split second. She stares in confusion, just like the doorman.

When she recognizes him, she drops her book in surprise. "Is it really you?" Yoshida holds his arms out. But instead of rushing forward, Yoko bursts into tears. She puts her hand against the wall to steady herself. When he called a few weeks ago, she seemed so stoic. But seeing him in person is too much. Yoshida steps forward and hugs her tight. Her teardrops soak through his shirt.

She sniffles and looks up at him. "You said you'd be home by seven for dinner, but I didn't say which day." They share a quiet laugh together. Yoshida knows he has to go back to the plant in just a few days. There's still so much work to be done, but until then, he plans to savor every minute here at home. Ikuo Izawa sits with his elderly father in a hotel ballroom, digging into a meal of steak and rice.

The table is adorned with white napkins and crystal glassware. Despite Izawa's glum mood, the food is fantastic. A waiter comes by to fill his water glass. "Are you enjoying your steak? It's delicious. Where did the beef come from?" "Not the Fukushima region. We never buy food from there anymore." Izawa winces. Not exactly the answer he wanted. As the waiter leaves, he pushes the steak away.

His father looks at him, puzzled. "You're not hungry, you cool?" "No, father. Suddenly, it doesn't taste as good." It's November 2011. This dinner is a reunion of people from Izawa's hometown of Futaba. Seven months since the beginning of the Fukushima crisis, they remain refugees. Futaba is contaminated with radiation. The hotel they're in is 50 miles away.

Izawa knows that many people still blame Tepco for destroying their lives. And everyone here knows he works for Tepco. That's why he's cowering in the back of the ballroom, hoping no one will notice him. He would have never shown his face here today, but his father has been very sick lately, and this might be the last time he ever sees his old friends.

Izawa takes a sip of water and looks around the ballroom. Everyone seems happy today, but Izawa knows the pain they must feel. On his trips to the plant, he drives by their abandoned houses. Coffee cups still sit on the counter at the local cafe. The clock in Futaba's town square is stuck at 2:46 PM, the moment the earthquake struck.

The sound of a microphone brings Izawa back from his gloomy thoughts. "Hello everyone! So good to see your faces." It's the owner of the village café. He's playing MC tonight. Izawa picks at his food and half-listens to his welcoming speech. Then, the MC points at Izawa. "We have a special guest here tonight. In the back, Ikuo Izawa, who worked at the Fukushima plant.

Izawa freezes as every eye in the room turns toward him. His palms instantly go slick with sweat. He wishes he could disappear. Things have been hard for all of us, but Mr. Izawa did his best to protect our community. He remained at his post right until the end. May I call for a round of applause? Izawa cannot believe it. They're clapping for him. When the applause dies down,

He knows he has to say something. He pushes his chair back, and he stands up. Above all, he wants to apologize. Apologize for all the suffering that the people of Futaba and many other towns have experienced. But as he tries to speak, all of the suppressed emotions of the last seven months come rushing up. His eyes flood with tears. He tries several times to say something, but the words will not come.

For months, the Fukushima nuclear power plant remained in danger. Only in December 2011, nine months after the earthquake and tsunami, did the plant achieve a cold shutdown. The danger of a Chernobyl-level disaster had finally passed. An estimated 19,000 people died due to the tsunami. Indirectly, the Fukushima power plant disaster killed 3,700 more.

not from radioactivity, but from stress related to the evacuation and sudden lack of access to medical care. Eventually, the Japanese government indicted the chairman of TEPCO on criminal charges of neglect for ignoring evidence that tsunami waters could endanger the plant. In addition, Prime Minister Naoto Kan's mismanagement of the crisis brought down his administration. He announced his resignation in August 2011.

Control room supervisor Ikuo Izawa and his colleague Katsuaki Hirano have both led quiet lives since 2011, giving few interviews. Hirano is now retired, but Izawa still works at the plant. In February 2022, Izawa's hometown of Futaba became the last local village to reopen, 11 years after the disaster.

As for Plant Superintendent Masao Yoshida, his decision to pump seawater through the reactors in defiance of TEPCO orders has been cited as the single most important act in avoiding a complete catastrophe. Yoshida was diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus just six months after his heroic decision. Smoking, not radiation, was the likely culprit. He died in July 2013.

Even more than a decade after the disaster, the Fukushima plant and surrounding areas are still not safe. There's radioactive material smoldering away inside the ruined reactor cores. The disaster also contaminated hundreds of square miles of northeast Japan at lower levels.

In all, the Fukushima disaster has caused an estimated $230 billion in damages, and ongoing cleanup and containment efforts will likely cost nearly a trillion dollars over the next several decades. Of the 165,000 refugees who evacuated because of radioactive pollution, just 40% have returned.

But no matter how many eventually return, the Fukushima region and all of Japan will never be the same.

This is episode four of our four-part series Meltdown at Fukushima. A quick note about our scenes. In most cases, we can't exactly know what was said, but everything is based on historical research. If you'd like to learn more about this event, we highly recommend the books Meltdown by Yuichi Funabashi, On the Brink by Ryusho Kadota, and Station Blackout by Charles Casto.

I'm your host, Mike Corey. Sam Keen wrote this episode. Our editor is Sean Raviv. Our audio engineer is Sergio Enriquez. Sound design is by Rob Schieliga. Additional research and script consulting by Simon Campbell. Produced by Matt Almos and Emily Frost. Our managing producer is Tonja Thigpen. Our senior producer is Andy Herman. Our executive producers are Jenny Lauer-Beckman, Stephanie Jens, and Marshall Louis for Wondery.

I'm Dan Taberski. In 2011, something strange began to happen at the high school in Leroy, New York. I was like at my locker and she came up to me and she was like stuttering super bad. I'm like, stop f***ing around. She's like, I can't. A mystery illness, bizarre symptoms, and spreading fast. It's like doubling and tripling and it's all these girls. With a diagnosis, the state tried to keep on the down low. Everybody thought I was holding something back. Well, you were holding something back intentionally. Yeah, yeah, well, yeah.

No, it's hysteria. It's all in your head. It's not physical. Oh my gosh, you're exaggerating. Is this the largest mass hysteria since The Witches of Salem? Or is it something else entirely? Something's wrong here. Something's not right. Leroy was the new dateline and everyone was trying to solve the murder. A new limited series from Wondery and Pineapple Street Studios. Hysterical.

Follow Hysterical on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Hysterical early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery+.