“The Washington Post”: Around the Fukushima nuclear plant, a world was left behind.

Beyond the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, for at least 12 miles in any direction, the Japanese government maintains a no-entry zone.

To note, eight months ago, people left this place in haste. Families raced from their homes without closing the front doors.

Now the land stands empty, frozen in time, virtually untouched since the March 11 disaster which created a wasteland in the 12-mile circle of farmland that surrounds the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Several thousand Fukushima workers, draped in white protective gear, pass daily through the front gates of the plant, site of the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.

Nobody is allowed to live there, a condition that can continue for decades.

The land surrounding the Fukushima facility will one day grow wild, with villages eventually bulldozed and buried. Maybe decades from now, Japan will tailor the area to adventure-seeking tourists, or it will use the region as a wildlife preserve. For now, though, the land surrounding the nuclear plant still preserves the history of those who were told to abandon it.

The area is dangerous over long periods, with many spots even 10 miles away from the plant showing radiation levels exceeding those at the facility's main gate.

Only emergency workers and select residents with special permits are allowed to enter the zone, and only for brief trips.