Genesis of a disaster: Moment tsunami swamps Japan's doomed Fukushima nuclear plant




This is the moment the Japanese tsunami destroyed a sea wall designed to protect the Fukushima nuclear plant and surged towards reactors.



Tons of water can be seen destroying the wall and sweeping away reactor equipment, cars and other machinery in pictures released by plant owners.



The tsunami knocked out cooling systems at the plant, causing the reactors to melt down and numerous explosions as engineers tried to release a build up of radioactive hydrogen gas.



Disaster strikes: The tsunami rushes over a protective sea wall and towards tanks of heavy oil for the Unit 5 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex

Deadly torrent: The force of the tsunami destroys a sea wall designed to protect the Fukushima nuclear plant and surges towards the reactors

Officials say it will be April next year before the plant is fully under control as nuclear fuel rods continue to overheat after they were exposed by the loss of coolant.



The protective sea wall seen in the CCTV footage was designed to withstand a 19ft tsunami but not the 46ft wave that hit Japan on 11 March.

As the entire plant flooded, the water knocked out electrical equipment that controlled pumps that circulated cooling fluid around the reactors, causing to fuel rods to overheat.

Officials say that recent data from repaired gauges indicate that it's likely that fuel rods in at least one reactor had almost totally melted and fallen to the bottom of the capsule-shaped pressure vessel in the hours after the quake and tsunami hit.



Although no workers were allowed inside two other reactor buildings to take new measurements, officials assume similar damage at Units 2 and 3 based on the duration they were out of cooling water.

TSUNAMI PLUNGES JAPAN INTO RECESSION

The tsunami has plunged Japan into recession after the devastations caused by the natural disaster destroyed whole towns, destroyed factories, caused severe shortages of parts for manufacturers and caused widespread power cuts.

Gross domestic product fell by 3.7 percent from January to March, the second straight quarter the country's economy has shrunk.

Martin Schulz, senior economist at Fujitsu Research Institute in Tokyo, said there is 'no doubt' that recession has returned. More surprising is just how quickly the economy crumpled, he said.

The latest GDP report includes just 20 days following the disaster, but 'the impact is huge,' said Schulz, who had expected to see most of the economic fallout in the second quarter.

The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami left more than 24,000 people dead or missing, and wiped out entire towns in the hardest-hit areas.

As a result, Japan's factory production and consumer spending both fell the most on record in March. Exports in March went south for the first time in 16 months. Companies are reporting lower earnings and diminished outlooks for the rest of the fiscal year.

The recent events have deeply unnerved households, who are likely to remain cautious for the coming months, Schulz said.

'The nuclear disaster showed just how much is wrong in Japan actually,' he said. 'And many things that seemed so stable and sure like electricity supply ... are looking not safe at all.'

Toyota said last week that its quarterly profit tumbled more than 75 percent because of parts shortages after the tsunami. As of May, the crisis cost the company production of 550,000 vehicles in Japan and another 350,000 overseas.

Destruction: Cars are amongst the debris washed towards the radioactive waste stroage building as water inundates the nuclear plant





Water rushes into the plant in this photo taken from the fourth floor of the radioactive waste disposal building,left, and cars are swept away by waves of tsunami near tanks of heavy oil for the Unit 5 of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant



Going in: Workers wearing protective suits enter the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant No.2 reactor building

By spraying water into the reactor cores, TEPCO has kept the temperatures well below dangerous levels so that the lumps of fuel pose no immediate threat, officials say.



But the melted fuel has probably created some holes in the pressure vessel through which water is leaking into and then out of the larger beaker-shaped containment vessel, officials say. That would help explain why the vast amount of radioactive water has collected in the lower levels of the reactor buildings.

The new plan will likely elaborate on how the utility plans to pump out and decontaminate the water - and possibly use it to circulate back into the reactor.

The recent findings suggesting serious leakage render a tentative plan to fill Unit 1's containment vessel with water unworkable. The utility has discussed the possibility of installing large cooling fans to further bring down the temperature of the core.

TEPCO has also said it is laying the groundwork for a plan to cover the reactors with a tent-like material to keep radioactive particles from spreading into the air.



Until all the reactors are safely shut down, they continue to leak radiation, though in much smaller amounts than in the early days of the disaster.



Still, the sheer volume of contaminants spewed from the plant - and their buildup in places outside the 12-mile (20-kilometer) evacuation zone - persuaded the government to order residents to leave more towns in late April. Some of those residents began evacuating this past weekend and will continue to move out through the end of May.

Moments from impact: The tsunami approaches the plant after being triggered by an earthquake under the Pacific An explosion at the Fukushima plant days after tsunami hit, caused y engineers releasing hydrogen gas that had built up after the cooling systems failed Buildings destroyed: An aerial view of destroyed reactor buildings at the Fukushima plant after the tsunami hit and caused explosions







