Mars 2011: Kärnkraftverket i Fukushima - utbruten och sammanfogad tråd

21.1-meter tsunami hit Fukushima coast on March 11

Japanese scientists and prefectural officials have found that a tsunami more than 21 meters high hit the coast near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on March 11th last year.

The group led by University of Tokyo Professor Shinji Sato carried out a survey earlier this month of about 40 kilometers of coastline in no-entry zones in Fukushima Prefecture.

This is the first study of tsunami in the area since last year's earthquake as no one was allowed to enter the zones due to radiation from the plant.

Among the 28 spots studied, the wave reached its highest point of 21.1 meters in Tomioka Town.

Tsunami more than 10 meters high hit other places around the nuclear plant.

A previous survey of areas outside the no-entry zones found that the waves were less than 10 meters high in many spots.

Sato said it is necessary to study why the tsunami were so high in the area around the plant, as this will help in drawing up preventive measures.
Sunday, February 19, 2012 23:17 +0900 (JST)

Independent panel: Tokyo evacuation considered

A report by an independent panel shows that some cabinet members were bracing for the possible evacuation of Tokyo after the Fukushima nuclear accident.

The 6-member panel of experts is due to issue a report on Tuesday based on interviews with 300 Japanese and US government officials and others about their responses to the accident on March 11th of last year.

The report says the chief of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant informed the government 3 days after the accident that the nuclear fuel rods could melt down because of cooling system failures.

The information was reportedly sent to cabinet members and nuclear experts.

Economy minister Yukio Edano said that in a worst-case scenario, if the fuel rods continued to be exposed to the air, large doses of radioactive materials would be released and would prevent workers from entering the reactor buildings.

Edano said he feared that problems could also occur in another nuclear plant in Fukushima, and that Tokyo might have to be evacuated.

He added that the cabinet members were told of this scenario. Edano was the chief cabinet secretary at the time and served as the government's spokesperson.

The government chose not to make the scenario public.

The report says discussions are necessary on information disclosure by the government during emergencies.
Monday, February 27, 2012 19:06 +0900 (JST)

Panel issues report on Fukushima nuclear accident

An independent panel investigating the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has issued a report based on interviews with about 300 people, including Japanese and US government officials and nuclear experts.

It has pointed out that the government and the plant's operator were ill-prepared to deal with a crisis.

The 6-member panel of experts from the private sector has been studying how the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company responded to the nuclear accident in March last year. The power company's officials refused to be interviewed.

The report released on Tuesday criticizes the government's response as off-the-cuff and too late.

The late response is blamed on the government's failure to anticipate a nuclear accident triggered by an earthquake and tsunami that occurred simultaneously, which rendered its crisis management manual useless.

The report says the problem was compounded by the lack of basic legal knowledge on the part of the government's senior officials.

The report also points to delays in providing the prime minister's office with accurate information, as well as insufficient support by nuclear experts. The report urges immediate debate on improving such problems.

The report condemns the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency for its failure to train professionals in safety.
It says the agency could not draw up plans to put the Fukushima plant under control due to a shortage of both personnel and ideas.

The report blames Tokyo Electric for increasing the damage by not immediately switching to an alternative cooling system after realizing that the emergency condenser wasn't working. It also says the company took too much time to start the vent procedure to avert a major crisis.

The head of the panel, Koichi Kitazawa, says the investigation has revealed what was going on inside the prime minister's office and elsewhere at the time of the accident.

He pointed out an institutional defect in Japan's system to address a crisis, a problem that needs to be fixed as soon as possible.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012 18:57 +0900 (JST)