The Fu ku shi ma Daiichi
nuclear disaster was
an energy misfortune at the Fu ku shi ma Daiichi Nuclear Power
Plant in Fu ku shi ma, started mainly by the tsunami following
the Tōhoku earthquake on 11 March 2011. Nearly after the earthquake,
the active reactors automatically shut down their continued fission
reactions. Though, the tsunami deactivated the emergency generators that would
have provided power to control and operate the pumps essential to cool the
reactors. The inadequate cooling directed to three nuclear breakdowns, hydrogen-air
blasts, and the release of radioactive material in Units 1, 2, and 3
from 12 March to 15 March. Loss of cooling also produced the pool for storage
of spent fuel from Reactor 4 to overheat on 15 March due to the decay heat from
the fuel rods. This is the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl
disaster of 1986.a
