Original subtitles

So the whole station's out?

Yes.

The emergency generator for the seismic isolation building is operating.

BASED ON TRUE EVENTS

But the generators needed for the nuclear reactor buildings have all malfunctioned.

CABINET CRISIS MANAGEMENT CENTER

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency just heard from TOEPCO.

Is that from the tsunami? Why in the world did that happen?

The elevation where the nuclear reactors are located

and the hilltop where the seismic isolated building is located are at--

So how big of a difference?

The nuclear reactors are ten meters above sea level.

The seismic isolated building is 30 meters.

NUCLEAR AND INDUSTRIAL SAFETY AGENCY WAKIYA

Are you absolutely sure all the generators are useless?

Can they be dried out and used?

That's what they said at, uh, TOEPCO.

[Azuma] How many generators does the power station have?

I think around ten or so.

What about the elevations where they're at?

Oh, well, some of the generators are around ten meters or so--

The elevation's not my concern.

I'm trying to comprehend the extent of water damage,

which you don't seem to understand.

[sighs] Please forgive me. I'll find out right away.

Are there any ways of cooling without power?

Oh, uh, I have one.

It's called an IC,

short for isolation condenser, also known as "isocon."

Uh, one of the older reactors, Unit 7, is equipped--

Do you know if it still works?

According to this, it'll keep moving for a few hours with no source of power--

That's not what I just asked!

Don't tell us what's on a document!

I'm trying to understand what's happening over there,

so answer my question!

Uh, regarding your question,

uh, according to TOEPCO, they seem to be having a total station blackout,

which means no monitoring the reactors.

Are you sure they're even cooling?

Well, are they?

You're an expert on nuclear power?

No, not actually.

Where'd you go to college? Was it for science?

No, University of Tokyo for Econ.

Prime Minister, I'm sure they're still gathering information.

Get someone who actually knows what's going on.

This is ridiculous!

[somber music playing]

[telephone ringing]

Hello? Is this Okuma Town Hall?

This is Kawamura over at the Fukushima Station.

I'm calling to check on your damage?

No answer. Naraha, Tomioka, and Namie, none of their offices are picking up.

-Keep calling. -[man] Yes, sir.

Did anyone reach Futaba or the prefecture office?

Not yet.

[tense music playing]

Does anyone have the Unit 1 diagram?

It's here. And so is the single-line diagram.

SEISMIC ISOLATED BUILDING

We need more whiteboards. Bring me at least two more.

-[Yoshida] Kinoshita! -Uh, yes, sir.

-Are all the workers accounted for yet? -That's what I was coming to tell you.

There are still some operators unconfirmed.

The PHS system is down, so we haven't been able to reach them.

It's two guys. Takahira and Kirihara.

Takahira and Kirihara? Unit 4?

-Yes, sir. -They're just kids.

They think they went to the lower floor.

The rest of the crew is searching for them now.

Tell them to look high and low for those two, okay?

[Kinoshita] Yes, sir.

-That one goes to the recovery team. -[man] Okay.

[Kinoshita] The other can go over here.

All right.

UNIT 1 REACTOR WATER LEVEL: UNKNOWN

NUCLEAR REACTOR PRESSURE: UNKNOWN

PRIMARY CONTAINMENT VESSEL PRESSURE: UNKNOWN

[Kinoshita] Without power, we can't monitor the reactors.

[Yoshida] Damn it.

No pressure readings? Not even water levels?

Yeah.

All right. First, we're gonna need power.

Tell head office to send power supply vehicles.

-On it. -Wait, wait. One more thing.

Uh, fire trucks.

-You want fire trucks? -[Yoshida] Correct.

In case, uh, we can't get the cooling system turned back on

we'll have to spray water to cool it down.

Oh, that's smart.

But do we know if they were all in the tsunami as well?

I'll go call every fire station in the area.

Hold it a second!

How bad's the damage in town?

I don't really know.

I'm guessing it's pretty bad.

Then the local fire departments are bound to have their hands full.

They won't have any resources to spare.

Then what should we do?

Don't the Self-Defense Forces have fire trucks? Let's ask them.

Send a dispatch request to both Camps Fukushima and Koriyama.

-I'll have the head office send 'em out. -[Yoshida] All right.

[tense music playing]

REACTORS 1-4 WATER AND PRESSURE LEVELS

UNKNOWN

EPISODE 2

[music fades]

Understood.

I'll contact Station Manager Yoshida as soon as I have more information.

[Kinoshita] I appreciate it.

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER STATION CONTROL ROOM FOR UNITS 1 AND 2

-[bangs against metal] -[operator 1 groans]

-[operator 2] Are you all right? -I'm fine.

How are the meters?

[operator 2] Still not working.

Reactor water levels, containment pressure, radiation levels.

Nothing is showing.

That's bad news.

What's going on with the reactors?

What's the voltage on the level meters? At 20?

I think so.

What about if we connected two car batteries in series?

That should work.

[operator 1] Okay.

-Takahashi, can you do it? -I can do it.

It's getting dark out. Take your flashlight.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Osugi, we're gonna have to spray water at some point, aren't we?

Can't say for sure without any meter readings,

but probably, yeah.

If the cooling system isn't running,

then spraying is our only way to cool it.

I agree.

I think we should open up the valves on the water pipes.

-Sure. Let's do that. -The pumps should be checked also.

UNIT 1, SBO 15:40 PHS DISCONNECTED

NUCLEAR DISASTER RESPONSE HEADQUARTERS

Everyone's ready when you are.

I'm declaring a nuclear state of emergency.

The first ever in Japan.

I expect you all to respond accordingly.

Deputy Chief of Headquarters will give us an update.

Yes, sir. First of all,

the roads around the Nuclear Disaster Response Center in Fukushima

are totally impassable due to the tsunami.

As a result of the power outage,

there's no Internet, there's no way to video conference.

All they've got are six satellite phones for all their communications.

What about the emergency response support system?

There's a power outage, so those are going to be offline as well.

Monitoring posts around Fukushima

have also suffered damages due to the earthquake.

And monitoring vehicles are unusable due to the bad road conditions.

[man] Are you telling us there's no way to find out the situation on the ground?

Yes. We're currently working diligently to collect this information.

[all murmuring]

[tense music playing]

Do you want your team to handle that then?

[tense music continues]

The emergency power supply's only gonna last eight hours.

So the real battle starts around midnight.

It seems so, yeah.

[tense music playing]

THE NUCLEAR SAFETY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN MINEGISHI

According to the Special Measures Act,

we should begin evacuating civilians already.

How will you choose where to evacuate?

Evacuation.

[tense music continues]

Uh, at this point, uh, there is no indication

that the radioactive material has impacted anything outside of the facilities.

In summary, as of right now,

residents and those staying in the area do not need to take special action.

That means, instead of evacuating in a hurry,

stay where you are.

Let's keep everyone safe inside, awaiting instruction.

They're declaring an emergency, but not actually evacuating?

Pretty weird, no?

They don't know what's happening, so they declare it just in case.

Oh, okay.

Ah, Prime Minister!

Um, Prime Minister, do you have--

What now?

Sir, I've confirmed with TOEPCO.

As we thought, the Control Room lost power,

so they need a bit more time to confirm--

I heard you!

[electronic bell chimes]

We have no use for incompetence.

I'm returning to my office.

We make decisions as a unit.

Of course, sir.

[reporter] Surely it can't be safe to have citizens stay in their homes?

We have declared a state of emergency just to be safe.

Uh, 'cause, as you know,

currently we have zero reports of any radiation leakage

or the possibility of any leaks developing.

Uh, the government has begun to take every possible precaution

with respect to the situation.

Is that the right call?

I bet the government will end up getting blamed for their sloppy response.

What's the reason the power station isn't communicating?

-Because I don't know anything. [sighs] -[Murakami] You don't have anything yet?

There's no way nothing is working?

TOEPCO HEAD OFFICE

The Department of Safety has been calling me for an update!

I'm sorry.

[Murakami] Just do something!

Without any information, what do I report to NISA?

[phones ringing]

That we're doing everything we can do.

But it's like we're flying an airplane without any working gauges at all.

We have no idea how high we're flying or how fast we're going.

And we have zero visibility out here.

Still can't get a reading on the reactor water levels and containment pressure?

Right. Apparently, they're out collecting batteries from the workers' cars.

But many are hesitant to give them up so quickly.

Sure. They'd effectively be giving up their ride home.

2:52 P.M. IC AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION

[Yoshida] The cooling system,

working, right?

Yes. It should still be on.

-[Omura] Here you go. -Thanks.

Here you go.

I wonder what it's like in the reactor building.

We'll be okay, as long as these don't start ringing.

Huh?

Is that a GM tube?

All other meters were water damaged and are unusable.

-All except for that one. -[chuckles]

I guess it'll work. [chuckles]

Well, it's all we got.

Got to watch out for another tsunami.

[sighs]

I heard Todoroki and Toda

narrowly escaped death

over at the shared pool today. [chuckles dryly]

[Osugi] Yeah.

I sent one of the younger guys to the roof of the auxiliary.

They'll keep an eye on the ocean.

We'll let everybody know as soon as we detect a tsunami.

The sea level always recedes

before a tsunami.

If we can see the sea levels moving out to sea,

everybody will have at least a few seconds before it hits.

Make sure his vision's good.

Nozaki is who we sent.

Ah, that guy's got pretty sharp vision.

When his head's on straight. [chuckles]

I sure hope he knows what he's watching for.

For real!

[all chuckle]

[tense music playing]

[Osugi] All righty.

Let's head out.

Okay.

Okay. Be safe.

[tense music continues]

[music stops]

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI UNITS 1 AND 2 AUXILIARY BUILDING ROOF

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI INSIDE UNITS 1 AND 2 AUXILIARY BUILDING

[footsteps echoing]

[Osugi] All right.

[operator] They are going to let us know, right?

[Osugi] Huh?

[operator] If a tsunami comes.

[Osugi] Yeah. I guess that's what they have to do.

The tsunami destroyed the PHS system.

He'll have to run to us.

Will they

make it here in time?

[tense music playing]

[water dripping]

[waves lap in the distance]

[tense music continues]

-[operator] We're good. -[Osugi] Okay.

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI INSIDE UNIT 1 TURBINE BUILDING

Let's go.

-[wind blows] -[flashlight clatters]

[Nozaki shivers]

Huh? [gasps]

[breathes rapidly]

[tense music playing]

[gasps]

NUCLEAR REACTOR BUILDING BEYOND THIS POINT

[meter beeps]

[beeping speeds up]

Uh-oh.

[meter beeping rapidly]

The GM tube's way off the scale.

[rapid beeping continues]

-We should go. We're leaving! -Yeah.

-[rapid beeping continues] -[men panting]

[beeping fades]

-We didn't make it. -We couldn't reach.

-Take a break. Have some water. -Yeah, thanks.

This is serious.

With radiation already that high in level,

it's only gonna get more difficult to access those water pipes.

[operator 2] I'll do it.

Yo! What's up guys?

What a mess to deal with, huh?

-Furu-san, I thought you were off today. -[Furuya] I was.

My wife and kid made it to the evacuation center.

I just came for the heck of it.

I stopped at the iso building and picked up some face masks and survey meters.

[Omura] Great. Thank you.

Self-Defense Forces are sending over two fire trucks.

If we're still unable to get the power on,

we'll have to use those two,

plus our on-site truck, to spray cold water into the reactors.

Make sure we can access the water pipes.

We've begun our preparations.

[Yoshida] Oh, good thinking.

How many valves will you open?

-[operator] Five. -Which ones?

There's bound to be, uh, thousands all in all.

Will they be able to locate the right five valves in the dark?

They have Furu-san leading them now.

Oh!

Furu-san's in?

[chuckles] I bet a long-time worker is handy.

Yeah. [chuckles]

Is the radiation rising?

0.2 millisieverts in the past 30 minutes.

That's at the reactor building's entrance.

[Yoshida] Hmm.

Then there's only a couple of hours before it'll be too high to go in.

It's time you're racing against.

[operator] Right.

[Furuya breathes heavily]

[panting]

[dripping]

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI INSIDE UNITS 1 AND 2 AUXILIARY BUILDING

[Furuya] How is it?

[operator 1] I think we're good.

[Furuya] All right.

[tense music playing]

[tense music playing]

[tense music building]

[music fades]

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI INSIDE UNIT 1 TURBINE BUILDING

[all panting]

[wind gusting]

CONTROLLED ACCESS ZONE AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY

[operator 1] No change in radiation levels.

[Furuya] Okay.

NEAR THE ENTRANCE OF UNIT 1 REACTOR BUILDING

[dripping]

[footsteps splashing]

[operator 1] What's the matter?

[Furuya] Nothing. Sorry.

It's not a big deal.

It just took me by surprise.

[operator 1] It's a fish.

[Furuya] Yeah.

[operator 1] We're in the radiation control area, right?

[Furuya] Yeah.

Everything's covered in mud.

This is all

seawater.

[panting continues]

[tense music playing]

NUCLEAR REACTOR BUILDING BEYOND THIS POINT

UNIT 1 DOUBLE DOORS TURBINE BUILDING SIDE

[creaking]

-[clicks] -[Omura grunts]

[Omura] I'm opening it.

-[rumbling] -[Omura] Whoa!

[objects clattering]

[tense music continues]

[music fades]

[Furuya] Don't worry.

Even if a tsunami comes,

it'll take a while to hit.

There will be plenty of time for us to escape.

[operator 1] Okay.

[Osugi] What's our rad level?

-[operator 1] We're still okay. -[Furuya] Good.

-Let's go. -[operator 1] Yeah.

[Omura grunting]

[Omura strains]

[operator 1] It's safe to enter.

[Omura] Opening!

UNIT 1 DOUBLE DOORS REACTOR SIDE

[operator 1] Still okay.

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI INSIDE UNIT 1 REACTOR BUILDING

[tense music playing]

[operator 1] We're good.

[tense music playing]

[Furuya gasps]

[Furuya groans]

[tense music continues]

[panting]

[music fades]

[water dripping]

[deep breathing]

[Osugi] Valve number 365.

[Furuya] Valve number 365.

Roger.

[tense music playing]

[creaking]

[tense music continues]

[music fades]

-I'm sorry it took so long. -[operator 2] Let's hook it up.

[Takahashi] Yes, sir.

[Osugi grunts]

[Osugi strains]

[Osugi strains]

[Osugi strains]

[Osugi grunts]

[Osugi strains]

[ominous creaking]

-[operator 3 yells] -[clattering]

-[Furuya] Be careful! -[operator 3] I'm sorry!

[Furuya] Everyone okay?

[operators] Yes, sir.

[Furuya] The last valve

should be up there somewhere.

[Osugi] Let's go.

-[Furuya] All right. -[operators] Yes, sir.

[Osugi] Up we go.

[straining]

[panting]

[Osugi] Valve number 25A.

[operator 1] Opening valve number 25A.

[operator 1 strains]

[operator 1 groans]

[operator 1 strains]

[operator 1 groans]

[both strain]

[operator 1] Together.

[both strain]

[both strain]

[Osugi] There we go.

[Furuya] What's our level?

[operator 3] The radiation level is 13 millisieverts.

-[Furuya] Hurry! -[operators strain]

[tense music playing]

[operators straining]

[operator grunts]

[operator grunts]

[tense music continues]

[grunts]

[groans]

[operators grunting]

[tense music continues]

[music fades]

-Got the batteries hooked up. -[Nozaki] Great. Thank you.

The reactor's water level is up!

What does it read?

It's…

[tense music playing]

[man 1] Is it smart for the prime minister to be away from the crisis center?

Won't that make it difficult to collect information

when he retires at the end of the day?

I told everyone to brief his office as well.

[man 2] Mr. Prime Minister!

TOEPCO Headquarters just received a fax that Station Manager Yoshida sent.

It's an update on the reactor's status.

What is it?

[man 2] I'll read what he sent.

"We've determined that time to TAF…"

Uh, apparently, that's when the reactor runs out of water

and the fuel rods begin to become exposed.

"As best we can determine,

this should occur around 9:40 this evening."

[clock ticks]

"Estimating nuclear damage

this evening, 10:20."

"Estimates for the reactor

to overheat, 11:50."

[tense music playing]

So, the nuclear rods

are becoming exposed in under an hour?

That's right, sir.

Are you sure the damage will reach the vessels by midnight?

According to NISA, that's what the report says.

-Should I get Chief Wakiya? -Forget him!

Tell TOEPCO to provide us with more details.

Is the cooling system working or not?

And why has the reactor been leaking water?

Does that mean we're about to start leaking radiation?

Come on. After I said that everyone should stay put!

Why did that happen?

[tense music continues]

That's something we have to figure out.

Find out more.

[Azuma] What about the power supply vehicles?

Move the cars if that's all that's blocking your way.

The police can do that for you.

Whatever you do, get those vehicles there and turned on!

[man 2] Yes, sir.

[tense music continues]

Let's evacuate.

[music fades]

That would be best.

I'll go coordinate a press conference.

Oh, Mr. Minegishi.

How many kilometers should the citizens' evacuation radius be?

What?

Earlier, Fukushima issued an evacuation order

within a two-kilometer radius.

What should the government's stance be?

Well, over at the Nuclear Safety Commission,

we don't have enough information.

Really, you should be asking the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency about that.

Mr. Minegishi…

In drills, we usually estimate

a three-kilometer radius.

Usually?

Well, okay, then three is what we'll go with.

[sighs]

We're asking all individuals within a three kilometer radius

of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

to begin evacuating immediately.

[reporters murmuring]

[reporter 1] Two hours ago, you said no further action was necessary

and everyone should stay in their homes.

Was there some kind of trouble?

[reporter 2] Did something happen at the power station?

We've decided to take extra measures just in case,

so any orders issued are based on that.

We're taking every precaution just to be on the safe side.

But do we know, is there a real possibility of radiation exposure?

Uh, at times like this,

we must always expect the worst possible outcome,

so we can prepare according to those needs.

So that's what our order to evacuate…

Oh, really? Furu-san and the guys came through, huh?

Yeah.

They got all the valves open.

The rad levels were climbing, but they got it done.

Hmm.

Plus it's too high now, right?

[operator 1] Inside the reactor building,

their APDs exceeded 0.8 within a few minutes.

[Yoshida] Okay. The reactor building will be off-limits, starting now.

We've completed all the necessary tasks that we can.

Now we just wait for the fire trucks, so we can start spraying water.

[sighs]

9:30 P.M. SDF FIRE ENGINES

DEPARTED CAMP KORIYAMA

SEEKING ALTERNATE ROUTES SINCE MAIN ROADS ARE CUT OFF

[operator 1] What's the matter?

Hey, you guys did great.

Say thank you to everyone, okay?

The thing is I'm not sure how those fire trucks are getting there.

Roads are pretty terrible because of the earthquake.

We can't use our own because of the rubble that surrounds it.

They can't even move it.

Thanks to you guys, the water pipes are open.

But we still don't have a way to spray water inside.

[operator 4] 9:50 p.m, the pressure's at 7.2 megapascals.

There's nothing we can do.

Yeah.

The power supply vehicle is here! One high-voltage power supply vehicle.

The power supply vehicle just showed up.

Yeah. All right.

NUCLEAR FUEL BEGINS DEGRADING AT 10:20 P.M.

[man] Yes, I understand.

[clock ticking]

[man] We don't have time. Yes.

-The high-voltage truck just arrived. -I'll call you back.

Great. Nice work!

[man] Excuse me? The power supply vehicle has arrived.

[tense music playing]

9:50 P.M. ARRIVAL OF ONE MOBILE GENERATOR

[operator 1] How long will it take?

[ominous music playing]

[sighs] It's still too early to tell.

Did you find any switchboards that still work?

We've been looking for one even longer than the power supply vehicles.

But they're all drenched in seawater. It's taking time.

Seawater, huh?

If they're not careful, they'll end up electrocuting themselves to death.

[Yoshida] Yeah.

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI ROAD NEARBY REACTOR BUILDING

HIGH VOLTAGE MOBILE GENERATOR

[Azuma] What do you mean, the wrong voltage?

They're a power company. How could they get the voltage wrong?

Well, the higher-voltage power vehicles supply 6,000 volts.

They were planning to lower the voltage to around 500 volts

before they connected to the reactor's cooling system,

but to lower the voltage, they first need to connect it to a switchboard

located inside the power supply station.

What's the problem? Get a switchboard!

Yeah…

Uh…

[clears throat] I agree with you.

They most definitely will need to connect it to a switchboard,

but there's probably 70 switchboard locations inside the power station.

And it sounds like they've all suffered seawater damage from the tsunami.

So they would obviously have to check each one individually

to confirm which ones are usable.

ESTIMATED TIME OF FUEL DEGRADATION: 10:20 P.M.

[tense music playing]

Our fuel rods

are gonna start melting.

[tense music continues]

[tense music continues]

[tense music building]

[tense music continues]

[music stops]

[somber music playing]

[somber music continues]

[music fades]