I purposefully didn’t wade into the discussion abt the Fukushima nuclear waste because so much of it is based on politics and not science. But today I saw this thread that provides a good summary of the events leading up to the disaster in 2011. Transition in thread below 1/ https://twitter.com/drunkcatt/status/1382699296613662726

Twitter’s machine translation for your convenience if you don’t read Chinese.

TL;DR: to save cost the Fukushima plant was built at a site less protected fm tsunamis, didn’t have containment for its first 15 yes of operation, and only added a very basic 1 after Chernobyl. 2/

This part most already know.

TL;DR: Fukushima’s back up generators were located below ground which is a design flaw. When the tsunami hit, the plant’s power protection measures failed. TEPCO had no contingency plan in place & hid true extent of danger fm gov & public. 3/

TL;DR: since back up power couldn’t be provided, after the battery ran out, the cores couldn’t be cooled and began to overheat. It was proposed that seawater could be injected to the cores to prevent a meltdown, but the whole plant would be scrapped. The company refused. 4/

TL;DR: when finally back up power arrived, it was too little too late. The plant also did it have a hydrogen elimination system which is standard for this type of nuclear plants. (Again to save cost). Eventually the hydrogen led to the explosion. Rest is history. 5/

The thread goes on to talk about another nuclear power plants in Japan that is also on the brink of failing. It is concerning to say the least. This is perhaps also why I find the HBO series Chernobyl very triggering, but that’s another topic for another day. /end