Homes and businesses are closed indefinitely, and the place is littered with belongings abandoned in the evacuation.

The exclusion zone is the ultimate reminder of the dangers of nuclear power gone awry.

The meltdown at Fukushima led to the closure of all of Japan's nuclear reactors, and the most complex cleanup operation in modern history that continues to this day.

The Fukushima plant will stay shut forever, but power companies are clamoring to restart dormant reactors across Japan as the AI revolution sends demand for energy soaring.

Here's how Japan is grappling with atomic energy's dramatic comeback in the shadow of disaster.

We traveled into the Fukushima exclusion zone with TEPCO, the company that manages the plant.

As we drive closer to the site, the radiation counter on the bus ticks steadily higher.

Large areas around the plant remain frozen in time, a testament to the consequences of nuclear energy's destructive power.

The 2011 earthquake and resulting tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling system, causing three reactors to melt down.

TEPCO has been cleaning up ever since, but stubbornly high levels of radiation make that a complex and expensive operation.

Opponents of nuclear power see the Fukushima meltdown as the inevitable result of relying on a dangerous energy source.

The concentration of radiation is highest at the damaged reactors, and we were only allowed to stay in the nearest zone for 15 minutes to limit our exposure.

Japan is in one of the most seismically active regions in the world, so TEPCO has had to build a number of fail-safes around the site in case another disaster strikes.

This wall next to me here is 16 meters high, and that's just a little bit taller than the tsunami that hit in March 2011, so the plant should be protected against further tsunamis as decades of decommissioning work continue.

Japan has already spent more than $80 billion on making the site safe and paying compensation, and that cost is still rising.

In the midst of the massive cleanup,

TEPCO and other companies are fighting to restart reactors across Japan.

Owners of nuclear plants hope that they can sign lucrative contracts with tech companies.

AI pioneers, in need of enormous amounts of energy to keep data centers running, are betting billions of dollars on nuclear power.

After well-publicized accidents sparked the shift away from nuclear energy, there is now a global race to secure access to atomic power.

Microsoft recently struck a deal to restart Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island, the site of America's worst nuclear accident.

The booming demand for data centers is now supercharging the debate over restarting reactors.

Before Fukushima led to a nationwide shutdown,

Japan's 54 nuclear reactors provided nearly one-third of the country's energy supply.

Only 13 reactors are back online under tight restrictions.

The offline reactors that are operable have a total capacity of about 24 gigawatts.

That's enough to power hundreds of data centers.

Japan's idle sites include the world's largest nuclear plant, known as KKNPP.

The seven reactors here can generate 8.2 gigawatts of atomic power.

That's double the capacity of the biggest plant in the U.S.

On one of his last trips as ambassador to Japan,

Rahm Emanuel visited the site to lobby the country to switch the reactors back on.

These data centers that are going to be huge and only exponentially growing, and we can see it, you can't get into a situation either you're powering the data center or you're powering your phone.

And if we don't have a reliable power, we're going to get to that place.

Calls for restarting the reactors may be getting louder, but many in the country remain scarred by the events of 2011.

I think the public has every right to ask questions, but at a certain point you get to that choice, you know, that you've got to make a decision.

And I think nuclear power is an important answer to the future.

Japan is at a crossroads.

Its vast nuclear plants stand ready to fuel a new era.

that's set to be defined by A.I.'s insatiable thirst for power.

But Fukushima's shadow hangs heavy over the country.

Radiation levels in the evacuation zone are falling, but entire towns may remain hollowed out for years to come.

While many are turning to the potential of nuclear energy,

Japan serves as a reminder of the perils when things go wrong.

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