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Worked example

Alternate History Generator — Fukushima pools boil dry

@sadhvikairUpdated

Filled with

Divergence
After the 11 March 2011 tsunami, seawater injection and venting at Fukushima Daiichi fail longer. One or more spent-fuel pools boil down and a larger multi-unit source term leaves the site.
When
11–31 March 2011
Where
Fukushima Daiichi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan; plume across Honshu and the Pacific
Style
documentary alternate history, precise, no cartoon apocalypse
End Date
today
Focus
evacuation zone size, Tokyo scare, TEPCO/NISA, Japanese nuclear fleet shutdown, LNG import spike, and later restart politics
Constraints
Station blackout plus seawater and hydrogen, not a Chernobyl graphite fire. Spent-fuel-pool releases are ugly but still not a nuclear explosion. Keep 2011 Japanese institutions and the existing Tohoku earthquake/tsunami death toll separate from the plant.

The finished prompt

alternate-history-generator.fukushima-pools-boil-dry.prompt
Write a grounded alternate history. ### The change Point of divergence: After the 11 March 2011 tsunami, seawater injection and venting at Fukushima Daiichi fail longer. One or more spent-fuel pools boil down and a larger multi-unit source term leaves the site. When it happens: 11–31 March 2011 Where / who it hits first: Fukushima Daiichi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan; plume across Honshu and the Pacific ### How to write it - Style: documentary alternate history, precise, no cartoon apocalypse - End the timeline in: today - Zoom in on: evacuation zone size, Tokyo scare, TEPCO/NISA, Japanese nuclear fleet shutdown, LNG import spike, and later restart politics - Hard rules: Station blackout plus seawater and hydrogen, not a Chernobyl graphite fire. Spent-fuel-pool releases are ugly but still not a nuclear explosion. Keep 2011 Japanese institutions and the existing Tohoku earthquake/tsunami death toll separate from the plant. ### Method 1. State the real baseline in 2–4 sentences so the fork is clear. 2. Make the divergence small and mechanical — one failed action, one different decision, one piece of luck that goes the other way. Do not stack extra miracles. 3. Follow first-order effects (hours/days), then second-order (months/years), then the world as of today. 4. Keep physics, logistics, institutions, and incentives intact unless the divergence itself breaks them. No cartoon apocalypse unless the change actually implies one. 5. Mark speculation vs established fact. If numbers are uncertain, give a range and say why. 6. Say what does **not** change. Most of ordinary life continues. ### Structure 1. The day of the fork 2. The following weeks 3. Year 1 4. The next decade 5. Long tail to today 6. What still looks like our world 7. One-paragraph verdict: how this timeline differs, and how it does not Be specific about dates, quantities, and institutions. Do not turn the story into a single-theme sermon.

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