Fukushima nuclear plant concerns as 4,000 workers evacuate

Daily Mail​

30-07-2025

Workers have been evacuated from a Japanese nuclear power plant after an 8.7 magnitude earthquake off the far east coast of Russia triggered tsunami warnings. Alerts have been issued across the Pacific, with evacuation orders issued in Japan, Canada and the US after the earthquake hit the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia.
In Japan, around 4,000 workers are taking shelter on higher ground after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was evacuated. Staff continue to monitor the safety of the plant remotely.
The site's usual release of treated radioactive wastewater into the sea has also been temporarily suspended as a precautionary step. The plant was previously at the centre of a major nuclear incident following an earthquake and tsunami, which caused an electrical grid failure and damaged nearly all of the power plant's backup energy sources. The incident caused radioactive spillover into the surrounding area and is regarded as the worst nuclear incident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
A spokeswoman of the plant operator TEPCO confirmed 'all workers and employees' had been evacuated from the Fukushima Daiichi plant. She added that 'no abnormality' had been observed at the site. Shaimaa Kalil, BBC News Tokyo correspondent, said: 'Since that disaster there is still nuclear debris that is being cooled off by tonnes and tonnes of water that is stored in big tanks there, so it is a critical area and it is important to keep it safe. They are monitoring the situation but you can imagine there is nervousness in that area given the continuous warnings of the waves.'
The facility is still recovering from the devastating tsunami in 2011, which caused a radioactive nuclear accident. A 33ft (10m)-high tsunami that killed nearly 16,000 people crashed into power plant, leading to the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.. This led to several meltdowns, allowing harmful radioactive fuel rods and debris to escape from contained areas. In 2018, a worker died from the radiation they were exposed to at the stricken power plant seven years before.
The man aged in his 50s developed lung cancer after he was involved in the emergency clean-up work at the plant following the devastating tsunami between March and December 2011. The removal of fuel debris from the tsunami remains ongoing and operators recently announced it would be delayed until 2037 or later. Overall, at least 880 tons of melted nuclear fuel has mixed with broken parts of internal structures and other debris inside the three reactors that suffered meltdowns at the plant following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The delay set back the 2051 target set by Japan's government and TEPCO for decommissioning the plant.
Earlier this month radioactive soil from the power plant was delivered the Japanese prime minister's office to be reused in an effort to showcase its safety. The government is desperate to set people's minds at ease about recycling the 14 million cubic meters of decontaminated soil, enough to fill 11 baseball stadiums, collected after massive clean-ups and stored at a sprawling outdoor facility near the Fukushima plant. Officials have pledged to find final disposal sites outside of Fukushima by 2045. The Environment Ministry said the 2 cubic meters, now at Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's office complex in Tokyo, will be used as foundation material in one section of the lawn garden, based on the ministry´s safety guidelines endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The soil does not include any from inside the plant. Despite assurances, there has been much public unease. The government has already been forced to scrap a plan to experiment using some of the soil in flower beds at several public parks in and around Tokyo following protests. It comes as the quake with a magnitude of 8.8 struck of Kamchatska, Russia at around 7.24pm EST (00:24 BST) - marking the sixth strongest earthquake ever. It was also believed to be the strongest to strike on the entire planet in 14 years, when a 9.1 megaquake hit northeast Japan and left 19,747 people either dead or missing.
Several were injured in Russia and preschool in Petropavlovsk collapsed from the quake as tsunami waves could be seen reaching the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Unfortunately, there are some people injured during the seismic event. Some were hurt while running outside, and one patient jumped out of a window. 'A woman was also injured inside the new airport terminal,' Oleg Melnikov, regional health minister told Russia´s TASS state news agency. All patients are currently in satisfactory condition, and no serious injuries have been reported so far.'
The Kamchatka branch of the Geophysical Service of the Russian Academy of Sciences also said it was a very powerful earthquake. 'However, due to certain characteristics of the epicenter, the shaking intensity was not as high ... as one might expect from such a magnitude,' it said in a video on Telegram. 'Aftershocks are currently ongoing ... Their intensity will remain fairly high. However, stronger tremors are not expected in the near future. The situation is under control.' Millions in America are now under threat, with residents in Hawaii having already been forced to evacuate from coastal areas as the entire island chain braced for the impact to strike.
The California/Oregon border is now also under a tsunami warning, while advisories remained in effect for the rest of the West Coast of the United States. Waves were expected to reach California at about 3 am EST/12 am local. On his Truth Social page, President Donald Trump urged Americans to 'STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE.' In Hawaii, locals were seen running to supermarkets to stock up on water and other essentials as Gov. Josh Green signed an emergency proclamation for the state. 'We pray that we won't lose any loved ones,' the governor said in a news conference as he warned the public to not 'go out until we give you the all clear.'