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| Panel: Fukushima Crisis Worsened By “myth” Of Nuclear Safety | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 25 Jul 2012, 02:08 AM (48 Views) | |
| skibboy | 25 Jul 2012, 02:08 AM Post #1 |
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Fukushima crushed by 'myth', says panel BY: RICK WALLACE, TOKYO CORRESPONDENT From: The Australian July 24, 2012 ![]() Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, left, receives the final report from Yotaro Hatamura, chairman of the government-appointed investigation into the Fukushima disaster. Source: AFP THE misguided and arrogant faith that TEPCO and nuclear regulators held in Japan's nuclear safety "myth" contributed to the severity of the Fukushima disaster, a panel has found. "The utility and regulatory bodies were overly confident that events beyond the scope of their assumptions would not occur . . . and were not aware that measures to avoid the worst situation were actually full of holes," the government panel said in its final report. The report levelled most of the blamed at TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, although the government and former prime minister Naoto Kan were criticised, too. The panel also weighed in to the debate over the government's decision to delay the release of radiation exposure predictions from the high-tech SPEEDI system used to model dispersion of radioactive isotopes. The panel found that residents should have received this data in spite of government claims it was not reliable enough to release. The government panel, led by University of Tokyo academic Yotaro Hatamura, said it was unable to make a ruling on claims from Mr Kan and others that TEPCO considered withdrawing staff and abandoning the stricken plant. Mr Kan said he ordered TEPCO to ditch plans for the evacuation of all staff. Similarly, the report is silent on the role played by Fukushima Daiichi plant manager Masao Yoshida, who disregarded orders to wait and unilaterally injected seawater into the reactors. The actions of Mr Yoshida and Mr Kan are perceived by many Western observers to have been pivotal in averting a more massive disaster, but in Japan - where faith in authority and the proper processes remains strong - few have reached this conclusion. However, the leader of the Diet-appointed panel, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, kicked off renewed debate on cultural questions when he said "what must be admitted - very painfully - is that this was a disaster 'made in Japan' ". Mr Kurokawa blamed the plant's failure on "reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to 'sticking with program'; our groupism; and our insularity". Others believe that blaming cultural factors absolves those responsible from sanctions and scrutiny. So far, no one has been charged over the disaster nor lost any kind of professional certification nor been fired. The panel also said Mr Kan's involvement in detailed matters did more harm than good because it might have caused confusion among workers at the plant or resulted in making wrong decisions. At the same time, the panel found TEPCO's response suffered because employees were not trained to think flexibly. The panel found Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency strongly opposed a plan in 2006 to enhance preparedness against a nuclear disaster to avoid raising concerns about the safety of nuclear power among residents living near atomic plants. The three investigations - excluding TEPCO's own probe - lay most of the blame on the utility but differ on whether or not the earthquake alone caused enough damage to trigger a meltdown. source: theaustralian.com.au |
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3:16 PM Jul 11