On December 16, 2011, the government announced that the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant finally achieved a state of "cold shutdown" following the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. It marked the latest in a series of energy-related developments since the "Great East Japan Earthquake" shook northeastern Japan on March 11, leaving in its wake thousands dead, vast property destruction, and a destabilized nuclear power plant owned and operated by Tokyo Electric Power Corp.
