Reactors

At the Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, all the reactors stopped just after the quake.

Their story began five years ago, on March 11, when Japan was shaken by the largest earthquake ever to hit the island nation. The quake and resulting tsunami left more than 15,000 people dead, and crippled several nuclear reactors.

China can build its nuclear reactors without the help of foreign companies.

For the past eight years since the meltdown of Fukushima's three reactors, some 200 tons of radioactive water have been pumped out of the damaged buildings every day.

Reactors there are threatening to overheat and radioactive steam has already been vented into the atmosphere.

How are subs powered with nuclear reactors?

In the meantime, people still need electricity — and lots of it. According to the International Energy Agency, between now and the year 2050, the global demand for energy will triple, requiring an investment of about $350 trillion in energy infrastructure. How much of a role, if any, nuclear power will play is a question whose answer may lie in the smouldering ruins of the Fukushima reactors.

Zirconium alloys are often used in nuclear reactors because they resist corrosion in hot water.