the was a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the fukushima i nuclear power plant, following the tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 march 2011. it was the largest nuclear disaster since the chernobyl disaster of 1986, and the radiation released exceeded official safety guidelines. despite this, there were no deaths caused by acute radiation syndrome. given the uncertain health effects of low-dose radiation, cancer deaths cannot be ruled out. however, studies by the world health organisation and tokyo university have shown that no discernible increase in the rate of cancer deaths is expected. predicted future cancer deaths due to accumulated radiation exposures in the population living near fukushima have ranged in the academic literature from none to hundreds.