A new dark drama has dropped on Netflix, chronicling the fallout of a nuclear disaster in Japan.
The Days explores the catastrophe from three different points of view; those who put their lives in danger, the government's and corporate organisations'. The synopsis for the eight-part series reads: "Blamed by some, hailed as heroes by others, those involved with Fukushima Daiichi face a deadly, invisible threat – an unprecedented nuclear disaster."
The show is based on a true story; the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster which occurred on 11 March 2011. It was triggered by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake off the cost of Japan's main island, Honshu.
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The strongest earthquake ever recorded in the country, the shaking latest for around six minutes. It then caused a tsunami, with waves up to 46 feet high damaging the nuclear power plant's emergency diesel generators.
This lead to a loss of power, which meant the cooling system failed in three of its reactors. Within days, subsequently, their cores overheated and a build up of pressure caused explosions and a fire.
Radiation leaked into the atmosphere and some 110,000 residents had to be evacuated from their homes. In the weeks that followed, hundreds of Tokyo Electric Power Company employees, contractors, firefighters and the military attempted cool the reactors.
Increased levels of radiation were detected in some local food and water supplies, prompting officials to issue warnings about their consumption. By mid-April, the severity of the emergy had been increased from level five to level seven, placing it in the same category as the 1986 Chernobyl incident in the Soviet Union.
The nuclear plant wasn't declared stable until mid-December that same year. Twelve years on, Japanese authorities continue to maintain some exclusion zones around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility.
The Netflix series stars Yakusho Koji who plays a character modelled after Masao Yoshida, the plant manager at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The series is developed and produced by Code Blue's Jun Masumoto and directed by Masaki Nishiura and Hideo Nakata.
The Days is available to stream now on Netflix.
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