In March 2011, the Tohoku earthquake in Japan created a tsunami that killed some 16,000 people and caused an estimated $210 billion worth of damage. The tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, resulting in massive emissions of radioactive materials, the likes of which hadn’t been seen since Chernobyl in 1986. In the aftermath of the Japan disaster, the government and TEPCO, the plant’s operator, withheld information about the extent of the damage, causing a culture of fear and mistrust. Three years later, citizens and the international community are left wondering if Japan really does have the situation under control, as the government is insisting, or if the danger is far greater than anyone is willing to admit. Vikram Gandhi goes to Japan to investigate what’s really going on at ground zero of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
For many U.S. veterans returning from Iran and Afghanistan, the transition to civilian life is too often marred by mental illnesses that include anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. It’s estimated that more then a quarter million vets from recent wars have sought treatment for PTSD, and 22 veterans take their own lives every day. Despite these statistics, veterans often face an uphill battle to get treatment, receiving inadequate attention and, most dangerously, overprescribed narcotics and other pharmaceuticals. Ryan Duffy meets veterans struggling with mental illness and addiction to find out how men and women who risked their lives on the battlefield are now falling through the cracks at home.
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