THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | MARCH-APRIL 2026 35 FOCUS NUCLEAR SECURITY RESPONDING TO THE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT March 11 of this year marks the 15th anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. This magnitude 9.0 earthquake—the strongest in Japan’s history—created a tsunami that inundated 650 kilometers of Japanese coastline, causing more than 20,000 deaths and initiating a catastrophic accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The meltdown of three of the plant’s reactors released high levels of radioactive material into the air and groundwater, initiating a crisis that lasted for weeks, required the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents, created billions of dollars in economic damage, and caused a loss of confidence in nuclear power generation. The accident has since been the subject of multiple reviews by official Japanese government agencies, independent commissions, and international organizations. There are also lessons to be learned from recalling the U.S. government’s response to this megadisaster on the territory of a major ally. Political will to help mattered, but success was possible because the U.S. had on hand both extensive, well-trained technical teams and a flexible interagency management system that was able to mobilize and deploy assistance on an unprecedented scale. Because it could quickly mobilize and manage these assets, the United States was able within days to launch a massive, integrated aid effort that saved lives, hastened recovery, and built lasting goodwill. Key roles were played by the Embassy Tokyo country team, which coordinated across a sometimes disjointed Japanese government; the U.S. Department of Defense, which committed U.S. ships, aircraft, and service personnel to a massive assistance effort; the professional emergency responders in the U.S. Agency Steven Aoki retired from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2015 as deputy under secretary for counterterrorism and counterproliferation, a position he held at the time of the Fukushima nuclear accident. He previously was a Civil Service officer at the State Department in the Bureaus of Politico-Military Affairs and Near Eastern Affairs, and served on the National Security Council staff. There are lessons to be learned from the U.S. government’s response to this megadisaster on the territory of a major ally. BY STEVEN AOKI U.S. Assistance to Japan
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