Random observations from a Parisian in Tokyo: I visited the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, ask me anything.

Before or after the tsunami ?

It was this week.

Did you used a dosimeter ? Not a geiger an actual dosimeter ?

Yes, we were given dosimeters, I had one for the whole day in the former evacuation zone (20 km radius around the plant) and another for when we stayed in the plant. I actually took notes of the different radiation levels I could see on mine:

• outside the zone: 0.15 μSv/h
• on the road to the plant where the radioactive plume passed: 1.3 μSv/h
• at the security check of the plant: 0.05 μSv/h
• in front of the sea-side where they mix the treated contaminated water: 1.3 μSv/h
• on the observatory spot about 60 m away from unit 1: 66 μSv/h

In total, I took 16.3 μSv during the tour (plant + evacuation zone), which is in the range of a dental X-ray.

They are also pretty transparent about it, there are dosimeters everywhere in the zone at train stations and other public places. See the red counter at a station in my pic below:

How much did the nature came back in the aera ?

The region is generally very pretty and natural (rice fields and woods), there's no specific Chernobyl-style nature come back in the evacuation zone. I think it's because the radioactive contamination was way lower, so they could clean up. They have been pressure washing everything and removing 5-10 cm of topsoil for years. Now most of the zone is reopened for people who want to come back. Some of it is still forbidden, you can see the yellow barriers with a crossed silhouette and bags of soil being removed in my pictures below.