At 2:46pm (local time), 11 March 2011, the largest earthquake in Japan’s history damaged the infrastructure around several reactors.
This led to a loss of cooling water from around the nuclear fuel in three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.
The nuclear fuel in each reactor has begun to heat up and melt, releasing large quantities of steam and hydrogen gas. Over the last three days this hydrogen gas has exploded in each reactor, severely damaging each one. There is a lack of information coming from Japan as to the release of radioactive materials into the environment – though it is safe to say the situation is very serious.
Greenpeace is monitoring the situation, and we will continue to post updates here as it evolves.