Fukushima: A Heartbeat in the Dark

By Sahana Prabu

Posted on April 1, 2025

Cover Image Title: Fukushima Tsunami

Cover Image by: Ayesha Tariq

Classification: Digital Artwork

Specifications: 3508 pixels x 2480 pixels

Year: 2025

Location of Creation: Pakistan

“Radioactivity will kill you”

Those were the opening words of my chemistry teacher’s colorful prelude 

of the story he chose to tell us.

A real story that feels significant.

A real tale delivered with bright eyes and lots of hand gestures.

A real story of retired men in Japan who sacrificed themselves in nuclear ruin.

History, Boom.

Great people—engineers of Japan—built a nuclear power plant.

Nothing about it was wrong.

Nothing about it was wrong except for the fact that it was dangerously close to the ocean

A tsunami hit.

Ruminate on this: A 15-meter body of water that looks as if it could touch the clouds, ravaging a nuclear power plant.

I imagine the radioactive elements. Black. Decayed.

I imagine those isotopes my teacher discussed in chemistry class ejecting electrons out of a nucleus 

with a force so spontaneous that it occurs at an eye-popping rate.

One element’s decay may be negligible,

but a whole power plant—

where each atom implodes

and then explodes within crashing sea water—

is definitely worthy of second thoughts.

For once, chemistry made sense.

After the 15 meter mishanter,

Retired engineers—60-year-old Japanese men—

offered to clean up the ruin.

These were men with grandchildren.

These were men with wrinkles, pride, and sacrifice.

These men knew the truth: “Radioactivity will kill you”

Yet, they refused to let the younger generation stain themselves with such a mess.

Radioactivity will kill you, eventually, for it is merciless.

This disaster from 2011 is known as the Fukushima Daiichi Accident.

Today, we call these men Fukushima heroes.

Today, some of them live no more.

For radioactivity and lung cancer exist

even if a heart is filled with humanity. 

It eventually beats too fast,

sputters,

and dies.

This is a real story of miscalculation and nature’s fury that led to a devastation

And yet, amidst all this,

humanity leaps and shines.

For once, 

chemistry made sense.

Description: 

“Fukushima: A Heartbeat in the Dark” is a poignant poem that addresses the Fukushima Tsunami accident of 2011. I weaved together the ideas of humanity and science and showed how inspiring people can be even in times of peril and destruction. Selflessness is truly a timeless grace.

References

ABC News. (2011, March 16). Japan’s Fukushima 50: Heroes who volunteered to stay behind at  Japan’s crippled nuclear plants. Retrieved from https://abcnews.go.com/International/fukushima-50-line-defense%20-japanese-nuclear-complex/story?id=13147746 

World Nuclear Association. (2024, April 29). Fukushima daiichi accident. Retrieved from https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-daiichi-accident

[ Writing Editor: J.Y. ]

[Notes from the publishing team: The "References' section is supposed to have a half-inch indent from the left margin after the first line of each entry. Due to technical limitations, we apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. ]