Editors’ choice: 10th anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident
On 11th March 2011, an undersea earthquake, and a subsequent tsunami, triggered a meltdown in 3 reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. This led to the evacuation of over 150,000 people and was later classified as 'Level 7'; a major accident on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
Ten years after the event, we are still learning about its long-term impact. While, globally, the accident may be less prominent in people's minds, researchers are still keenly pursuing the effects of low-dose radiation and radionuclide transport on the ecosystem. This work helps us to understand what steps may rectify the damage done, and also how to mitigate future accidents.
As an inclusive, open-access, multidisciplinary journal, Scientific Reports continues to provide a natural home for vital research into the after effects of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Our editorial board member, Prof Manabu Fukumoto (Tohoku University), has helped us assemble this collection, featuring key papers about the accident published over the last ten years. The research highlighted in the collection explores the effects of the accident from a broad range of perspectives, from the first minutes to the present day.
