The 10-km Darkness Connecting Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plants: Despair Seen at the Site on the Night the Road Disappeared (2011)

The 10-km Darkness Connecting Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plants: Despair Seen at the Site on the Night the Road Disappeared (2011)
The distance between the Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini nuclear power plants is only 10 kilometers to the north. Under normal circumstances, it would take only 20 minutes by car on National Route 6 to reach the two reactors. However, the massive earthquake of March 11, 2011 instantly separated this short distance. The road rose and sank, all the streetlights went out, the traffic lights were silenced, and National Route 6 became impassable. An ordinary, everyday road was made almost nonexistent by the disaster.
The workers who left the No. 2 nuclear power plant for the No. 1 nuclear power plant followed narrow roads that were not normally used for daily life and navigated through pitch-dark streets so dark that cars could not pass each other, avoiding the debris. The sound of creaking buildings lingered around them, aftershocks constantly shook the earth, and the traces of the tsunami that had come in from the sea glistened coldly in the air. Their world was only as far as their headlights could illuminate it, and no one knew what lay beyond.
This 10-kilometer journey was essential in the response to the nuclear accident. Units 1 and 3 at the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant were in serious condition, and Unit 2 was in danger of losing its external power supply. However, the short distance that was supposed to support on-site coordination was cut off by the disaster, and the movement of personnel itself turned into an act of risking one's life.
Japanese society was in the midst of turmoil at the time, and communications and information tended to be disrupted, making it difficult to grasp the situation. The open records of the Government Accident Independent Investigation Commission also testify to the extremely poor condition of the roads along this section of road.
A mere 20 minutes of road became a huge wall, and 10 kilometers turned into an endless distance. The tension and fear felt by the workers as they ran into the darkness is undocumented, but it is an indispensable reality in understanding the background of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident.