Slideshow: Fukushima Plant Passed Ultimate Test

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The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerplant performed beyond its best expectations after being struck by a mammoth earthquake and a 40-ft-high tidal wave in 2011, experts said last week.

More than two years after the earthquake and tsunami struck, studies are now showing that radiation exposure levels were much lower than originally predicted. Thus far, the only deaths directly attributed to the nuclear plant have been related to the evacuation of residents, and not to radiation exposure. ”The powerplant did an incredible job,” Jeff Terry, an associate professor of physics at Illinois Institute of Technology, told Design News. “Even with multiple meltdowns and explosions, there were no radiation-related fatalities.”
The performance of the plant has been a surprise to some. Media reports initially following the disaster predicted thousands, and in some cases, tens of thousands, of fatalities.