In 2011 a massive earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant, resulting in a meltdown that became the world’s worst atomic crisis in 25 years. About 160,000 people living near the plant were ordered to move out and the government established a 20-km compulsory evacuation zone. The operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co, is struggling to contain contaminated water at the site 240 km north of Tokyo. There have been multiple leaks and glitches over the last two and a half years.
Waves break into the anti-tsunami barriers as a typhoon hits the area near the Iwaki town, south of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A small monument to victims is seen in front of an abandoned house at the tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
The beach is littered with tsunami barriers, wreckages of cars and other debris at coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie near the crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A vending machine, brought inland by a tsunami is seen in a abandoned rice field inside the exclusion zone at the coastal area near Minamisoma in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A vending machine, brought inland by a tsunami, is seen in a abandoned rice field inside the exclusion zone at the coastal area near Minamisoma in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
An elderly woman leans against the damaged grave of her relative as she visits the cemetery at the tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Vegetation grows over a house damaged in 2011 earthquake in the evacuated town of Namie. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Dense vegetation is seen from inside an abandoned house at the tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A twisted clock, spiders webs and debris are seen from inside a damaged primary school at the tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A clock shows the time of 2011 earthquake at the kitchen of a damaged house in the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Copies of Fukushima Minpo newspapers with headlines M(magnitude) 8.8, largest in the country and dated a day after the devastating 2011 earthquake are seen inside the office in the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A dead cat is seen among debris in damaged house in evacuated town of Futaba in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A control panel of public address system is seen inside damaged primary school at the tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Balls are seen inside damaged primary school at tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Messages of support are written on a blackboard in science class of primary school at tsunami destroyed coastal area of evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Traditional shoes are left in an abandoned civic centre at the tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture only some 6 kilometers from the crippled Daiichi power plant. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Bicycles are left behind near the train station in the evacuated town of Futaba in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A man fishes on a municipal beach that is closed for public near Iwaki town, south of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A surfer carries board as others catch waves before anti-tsunami barriers on closed Toyoma beach near Iwaki town, south of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A lifeguard's watchtower and drawings on an anti-tsunami wall are seen on the Usuiso beach that is closed for public in tsunami destroyed coastal area near Iwaki town, south of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Light and power lines come from tsunami-crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant as seen from Route 6 near the town of Okuma in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A security blocks the road from the Route 6 into the the exclusion zone near the tsunami-crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant near Tomioka in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
An official gets ready to measure radiation levels on vehicles and people leaving the exclusion zone near the tsunami-crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture near the town of Tomioka. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A security personnel blocks Route 6 near the town of Tomioka inside exclusion zone near the tsunami-crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Street lamps light the street in the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Hotel staff welcome guests behind a sign with levels of radiation at the hotel's lobby and rooms in the Iwaki town. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A road block prevents people from entering highly contaminated zone in the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
The level of radiation is seen near the abandoned civic centre at the tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Officials measure radiation level outside a shop in evacuated town of Iitate in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A Buddhist monk wears a Geiger counter as he leads a small funeral ceremony for a woman who died as an evacuee at a cemetery in the evacuated town of Minamitsushima. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Firefighters from Kyoto pay respect to victims as they visit the tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Naoto Matsumura poses for pictures in an empty street in the evacuated town of Tomioka, near the tsunami-crippled Daichi power plant in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A visitor from Hokaido takes pictures at the tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A woman who came for a brief visit to her home walks under a sign reading Nuclear Power - The Energy for a Better Future, at the entrance of empty Futaba town, inside the exclusion zone in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A table is set for customers at a restaurant in the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Big plastic bags containing radiated soil, leaves and debris from the decontamination operation are dumped at the tennis court at sports park in Naraha town. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Wild flowers and other vegetation grow over train line in the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Kasumi Saino from the town of Tomioka near the tsunami-crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant walks her dog May between pre-fabricated houses of center for evacuees where she lives in Iwaki. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Fishermen from the Kiyomaru fishing boat pull in their net as they sail off the Iwaki town south of crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant, Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A vendor offers fish for sale at a market in the Iwaki town, south of the tsunami-crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Some of the fish caught by fishermen from Kiyomaru fishing boat is prepared for government officials to collect it near the Iwaki town. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A farmer cuts the grass at an abandoned farm at the edge of the exclusion zone at the coastal area near Minamisoma. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A worker from Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), a company that runs the tsunami-crippled Daiichi nuclear plant cuts the dense vegetation that grew wild in the evacuated town of Namie. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A relative of Yotsuno Kanno uses chopsticks to put her remains into a family grave during a small ceremony at a cemetery in the evacuated town of Minamitsushima. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Noboru and Nagako Harada stand among their cows in the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Keigo Sakamoto holds Atom one of his 21 dogs and over 500 animals he keeps at his home in the exclusion zone near Naraha. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Hiroshi Maskura from the town of Tomioka near the tsunami-crippled Daiichi nuclear power plant sits inside his pre-fabricated house at the center for evacuees where he lives in Iwaki. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Keiko Sato, 62, is reflected in a mirror as she searches for items in her house she visits in the evacuated town of Namie. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Portraits hang from the wall of an abandoned and damaged house in the evacuated town of Namie in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Zenjuro Nagaoka is followed by his wife Satoko as he takes a dead mouse out of their sweet shop during a visit to the evacuated town of Namie. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
Mieko Okubo, 59, poses with a portrait of her father-in-law Fumio Okubo next to his jacket in his room where he committed suicide in the evacuated town of Iitate in Fukushima prefecture. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
A doctor conducts a thyroid examination on four year old Maria Sakamoto brought by her mother to the office of Iwaki Radiation Citizen Centre NPO in Iwaki town. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
People wear face masks as they visit the cemetery at the tsunami destroyed coastal area of the evacuated town of Namie. DAMIR SAGOLJ/REUTERS
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