Japan: one year later: a look at how the nation is doing since last March's earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown.

• Author: Majerol, Veronica
• Position: INTERNATIONAL

It's been one year since Japan's northeastern coast was ravaged by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake--the worst in the nation's history--triggering a massive tsunami that engulfed coastal towns and vast areas of farmland.

More than 15,000 people were killed in the March 11, 2011, disaster, which also caused the worst nuclear accident since the one at Chernobyl in the Ukraine 25 years earlier: After losing power, three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, 170 miles north of Tokyo, suffered meltdowns and released radioactive gases, prompting evacuations of tens of thousands of people and concerns about nuclear contamination.

Radiation Fears

Japanese from all over pitched in with relief efforts, and Japan has rebounded incredibly quickly. Much of the wreckage from the quake and tsunami has been cleared, and reconstruction is well under way (though it will take a decade and about $300 billion to complete).

But the nightmare is far from over for many Japanese, More than 160,000 people with homes within the "exclusion zone"--a 12-mile radius around the plant that the government has deemed unsafe (see map)--are still displaced. And despite announcements in December that scientists had regained control of the plant, it will take a massive effort over the next four decades to completely remove all the melted fuel debris. Many Japanese remain concerned about radiation in the environment and in food supplies (see Voices, facing page).

The meltdown forced Japan to face tough questions about its energy future. Japan has long been among the world's biggest consumers of nuclear energy, which until last March supplied 30 percent of the country's electricity, compared with 20 percent in the U.S. But officials have since been calling for a new policy based on renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. Abandoning nuclear power altogether, however, may be unrealistic for Japan, which has no domestic oil or natural gas.

The repercussions of the...