In 2011, The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants was hit by a massive tsunami on the east coast of Japan. Damage sustained by the plant caused 3 of the plant's 6 nuclear reactors to melt down, releasing extremely deadly radiation into the surrounding environment and atmosphere. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated from an exclusion zone 25 miles wide around the plant. Radioactive contamination of the countryside was so severe, that workers actually had to go around clearing off layers of topsoil and putting them in plastic bags for disposal. The efforts to clean up the plant have been significant, but will take years and years to accomplish according to Blumfiel of NPR's "All things Considered"
Despite the reactors meltdowns being caused directly by the tsunami, the reasons why they failed is due more to human error than environmental harm. Kurokawa Kiyoshi in his article, "Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster" blames the disaster on a lack of regulatory oversight by the Japanese government and lax standards at the plant itself. a "defense in depth" focused on "five layers of defense" intended to prevent nuclear leakage in the case of a disaster as well as lay out plans for the evacuation had not been carried out, and multiple other safety standards were not enforced. Overall, the Fukushima disaster will continue to plague Japan and the environment for decades and serves as a cautionary tale for using nuclear power irresponsibly.