The world watched the Fukushima disaster unfold at a distance — headlines, press conferences, grainy helicopter footage. But what was really going on inside the battle for Fukushima?

Producer Dan Edge spent months in Japan to investigate the full story of those harrowing days at the brink of catastrophe. He interviewed several TEPCO workers, who risked their lives to prevent a meltdown and who have been forbidden from talking publicly about the experience. And he uncovered new details about the confused scramble to respond to the crisis as it unfolded.

A year later, what do we know about why TEPCO and the Japanese government weren’t better prepared? Why did officials play down the crisis? Who knew what, when? And how close did Japan — and the world — really come to a nuclear nightmare?

Join producer Dan Edge (The Wounded Platoon, Kill/Capture) in a live chat at 3 p.m. ET to discuss these questions and the making of “Inside Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown.”

We’ll be joined by a guest questioner, Boing Boing science editor Maggie Koerth Baker. Her work has also appeared in Discover, Popular Science and New Scientist, and her new book Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us is set to be published in April 2012. You can follow her on Twitter @maggiekb1.

What are your questions for Dan Edge? You can leave them in the chat window below and come by at 3 p.m. to join the live discussion.