Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare to Debut on HBO in March
The HBO Original documentary Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare, directed by James Jones (HBO’s Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes), and co-directed by Megumi Inman (Atomic People), debuts Tuesday, March 10 (9:00-10:40 pm ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
In March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake – the strongest ever recorded in Japan – unleashed a tsunami that devastated the country’s northeast coast. Entire towns were erased, and 20,000 lives were lost, but an even greater threat loomed at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where the giant wave disabled the cooling systems of three reactors.
As radiation levels soared and hydrogen explosions tore through the facility, Japan’s leaders faced the unimaginable prospect of evacuating Tokyo – the world’s largest city with 35 million people.
Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare reconstructs the nine harrowing days following the disaster in forensic, real-time detail, from the control-room engineers fighting to prevent a total meltdown to the political leaders confronting the unthinkable to the ordinary citizens caught in the fallout.
At the heart of the story are the power plant workers who were tasked with averting a major catastrophe. It was potentially a suicide mission, commanded by Japan’s prime minister Naoto Kan.
Navigating days of isolation and terror, these plant workers – who would later be known as the courageous Fukushima 50 – recount the mounting pressures they faced as they entered the darkened reactors to try to avert the worst outcome, knowing the work might kill them.
For years, these men stayed silent, burdened by guilt and stigma rather than celebrated as heroes. Now, the control-room supervisor on duty when the disaster began, Ikuo Izawa, and others who were present in those nine fateful days, recount their detailed experiences publicly for the first time.
The documentary includes first-hand insight from Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant engineers, government advisors, American consultants and journalists, TEPCO officials, and emergency workers.
HBO Documentary Films is presenting Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare, a Blast Films Production in association with Dogwoof. The documentary is directed by James Jones. Megumi Inman is the co-director and producer.
The executive producers include Tanya Winston, Sacha Baveystock, James Jones, and Danny Horan. For Dogwoof, the executive producers include Anna Godas and Oli Harbottle. Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, and Tina Nguyen are the executive producers for HBO.
