The Night the Road by the Sea Disappeared - 10 km of Darkness Separating Two Nuclear Power Plants (2011)

The Night the Road by the Sea Disappeared - 10 km of Darkness Separating Two Nuclear Power Plants (2011)

Immediately after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the 10-kilometer distance between the Fukushima Daiichi and Fukushima Daini nuclear power plants would, under normal circumstances, have been within a 20-minute drive on National Route 6. However, on that day, the earthquake and tsunami cut off the road network in the Hamadori area, and this short distance was suddenly transformed into a long gap. National Route 6 collapsed in various places and was littered with debris, rendered impassable by the tsunami inundation, and the only major north-south artery was unable to fulfill its role. The Joban Expressway was also closed for a wide area, and the transportation function of Hamadori was devastated.

Against this backdrop, the executives of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant made the decision to go to the area to support the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. What awaited them, however, was a detour without a single light. Streetlights had gone out due to the power outage, the village was quiet due to evacuation, and the night road was shrouded in darkness. Not a single car passed them, and all that remained was the lingering echo of the ground as they continued along the steep road. The scene symbolized that Hamadori had become a huge void due to the disaster and fear.

At the No. 1 nuclear power plant, a chain of crises had already been set in motion, including loss of cooling, explosions, and loss of instrumentation, and the site was facing a chaotic chain of command. On the other hand, the second nuclear power plant was somewhat stable, so it was important to send human resources to the first. However, the loss of the road prevented the transport of equipment and materials, the movement of support teams, and the integration of information, resulting in serious delays in the response to the accident. The loss of just one road exposed the extreme vulnerability of the coordination between the nuclear power plants.

The disaster demonstrated the risk posed by the location of the nuclear power plants, which were built in a series along the sea, and the fact that the geography of Hamadori, with its lack of detour routes to the mountain side, makes it extremely vulnerable to disasters. The proximity of only 10 kilometers created efficiency in normal times, but at the time of a disaster, both sides would be structurally vulnerable to simultaneous isolation.

That night when the coastal road disappeared, the 10 kilometers of darkness separating the two nuclear power plants relentlessly illuminated the fragility of Japan's infrastructure and nuclear policy. The deep darkness of that moment still silently speaks of how much civilization was sustained by a single narrow road.