On the Brink: The Inside Story of Fukushima Daiichi Paperback – December 25, 2019

If we can be sure of anything about nuclear disasters and near-misses, it’s that reality at every step is always worse than what we hear from proponents, regulators and media. There are systematic reasons for this, but the thrust of this book is a refreshingly human first person story, with just enough straightforward technical explanation to make sense of what was actually happening on the scene.If we had an equally insightful account of what has occurred in the following ten years it would be another “ten times worse” .

Concentrating on the activities of the superintendent of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant, Masao Yoshida, from the events of the earthquake until cancer caused him to go on sick leave from his duties after the plants were "subdued" with seawater injections and drenches, this is a detailed and riveting account of the hours and days following the events of 3.11.There hasn't been a book like this published yet so far - most have been simple overviews from news media sources followed by pundits talking about legislative or sociological themes. This book covers the events on the ground, and in the control room, from those struggling to deal with the reactors, in the face of daunting physical conditions and unbelievably incompetent company and government management. As an example, these people had little food and water (not enough to drink, much less decontaminate) and even the masks and suits needed to do repairs were running extremely short. When the Prime Minister chose to visit, he interrupted their efforts to get the reactors under control. The fire engines that arrived to cool one of the units sat for an hour and a half while the cores melted further while the P.M. was sent off in his helicopter. His staff and TEPCO insisted the plant provide safety gear for him, rather than him bringing it for him OR FOR THEM, even though they had not enough for their own repair efforts. Even as the operators were disconnecting and reconnecting car batteries to get control room instrument readings, (to save the batteries) the TEPCO staff were criticizing them for failing to keep them updated.I had a lot of larger questions after this, in that if they could air lift the PM in by helicopter, why not protective gear, batteries, generators, compression pumps, even food and water. Once the station lost both landline power and the generators, and they knew they only had a few hours of battery power, the company and government should have focused on getting them power. Rather than the local personal scavenging for car batteries in vehicles and local stores. TEPCO management off site was very ineffectual. And the government at least at some junctures, actually hindered the efforts to stop the core meltdown and hydrogen explosions, rather than help.It's obvious from the book that the operators themselves were dedicated to the point of risking their lives. They also disobeyed orders when orders from company management and the government were clearly wrong. But there was an amazing disconnect of purpose, on both sides, after this catastrophe. I don't think it is unique to Japan, though I think cultural distinctions and propriety made them more reluctant to challenge and demand what they needed in an emergency, and left many solutions in the hands of lower level people taking initiative, then good management and procedures instigated from the top down, and the government lending resources in a crisis that affected its citizenry.This book has faults - it tends to ramble after the health issues that caused Yoshida to leave the action. Then it concentrates on his health issues and the fate of the two workers who drowned in Unit 4 during the tsunami at a later point in the book. It thus leaves the final status of the plant murky, as if the author didn't have the same access to others as to Yoshida. This is clearly his story. Still, the first 3/4 of the book is a fascinating account of details that aren't readily available from any other source to date.

I purchased this book after watching Netflix’s The Days, which did an excellent job of focusing on the people who risked their lives to prevent a major meltdown at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. “On the Brink” expands brilliantly on the courage and sacrifice of the 2000+ workers who stayed on the ground at Fukushima for weeks after the massive earthquake and Tsunami fatally damaged the plant. The book also adds important details not covered by the Netflix program. An excellent read.

A play by play of the valiant efforts to do what they can to minimize the disaster. Overall a good book, sometimes awkward translation slowed the pace.

I have now read three books on nuclear plant meltdowns. This one clearly is the best one: detailed, understandable, and human. Kadota details the problems faced by plant superintendent Yoshida, the immense courage of the plant operators, firefights, and other persons. The tidal wave was totally unanticipated and overwhelmingly large, perhaps as high as 70 meters (? not sure about that). The wave destroyed all of the backup equipment and shorted all of the electrical systems. The operators were left in a pitch-black control room without sensors. They had to use DC batteries to hook up any sort of sensors. It was amazing that the operators had any control at all.The players who come off worst in this book are the Prime Minister and some of the TEPCO (electric company) officials from Tokyo. Nevertheless, Kadota has tried to be fair: he interviewed most of the players up to two years after the event, to get their "side" of the story.I wish a book like this had been written about Chernobyl or Three Mile Island. ​

The courage of the Japanese people is amazing. I hope we can all appreciate what these people had done. A hell of way for a lesson learned. A lot of repetition in the story, but they wanted to get the point across. I understand why Japan needed nuclear power plants, and support them on them. It took an earthquake and a Suomi to bring it down, freak event.

I watched the entire Netflix series “3.10” over the last two evenings and wanted to read the book on which it was based, which I just did this morning.My late Japanese wife’s maternal family was originally from Fukushima area and her grandfather’s home and village (which I had visited decades earlier) was swept away by the tidal wave. During the crisis, my two adult sons flew to Tokyo to bring her back to the U.S.Despite this familiarity, the well-written book and exquisite movie make things even more poignant than I will even attempt to express here. I recommend watching the movie first and then reading the book, if you have that level of interest. They are deeply complementary.

Fascinating account of the disaster! While not overlooking the technical side, it is an incredible account of the human side of the situation. I was thoroughly engrossed throughout. It also gives an interesting snapshot of (at least part of) Japanese culture, which was pivotal in avoiding a complete catastrophe. Unfortunately, it only reinforced my opinion that our society in the United States is terminally ill.