After obtaining permits to enter the roughly 20km (12.5 mile) Fukushima Exclusion Zone, Polish photographer Arkadiusz Podniesinski travelled to the site of the nuclear disaster to see it with his own eyes. What he saw is an abandoned place rife with scenes seemingly ripped from post apocalyptic films.
“It is not earthquakes or tsunami that are to blame for the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, but humans,” writes Podniesinski on his website.
Check out the chilling photos he took…
Abandoned vehicles are slowly swallowed up by nature on a stretch of road near the power plant
Some of the cars have entirely disappeared in the wild grass
Podniesinski shows a radiation reading of 6.7 uSv/h
A chained-up motorcycle is slowly absorbed into the field
These contaminated televisions were collected and piled up as part of the cleaning efforts
Cobwebs hang above the scattered products in this abandoned supermarket
Another photo from within a supermarket feels eerily similar to those from post-apocalyptic movies
This abandoned computer lab covered in animal droppings is from a village near the plant
A dining table with portable cookers ready to prepare food looks like it was left in haste
These go-karts have had their last race in an entertainment park located within the 12.5mile exclusion zone
Musical instruments including a piano litter the floor of this classroom
The earthquake which started the tsunami damaged buildings as well
These bicycles were left behind when residents fled
Classes were interrupted mid-lesson by the disaster
An empty arcade, now without patrons
This aerial photo taken by a drone shows one of the dump sites that contain thousands of bags of contaminated soil
Bags of radioactive soil are stacked one on top of the other to save space
Landowners have been told that these contaminated bags will be disposed of, but many people remain skeptical
Cows started to get white spots on their skin soon after the accident. One farmer believes this is due to the cows eating contaminated grass
The sign reads: “Nuclear energy is the energy of a bright future”
Podniesinski undertook the project so that he could draw his “own conclusions without being influenced by any media sensation, government propaganda, or nuclear lobbyists who are trying to play down the effects of the disaster, and pass on the information obtained to as wider a public as possible.”