A government-appointed inquiry into Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear crisis yesterday raised doubts about whether other atomic plants were prepared for massive disasters, despite new safety rules, and delivered a damning assessment of the regulators and the station’s operator.
The report, the second this month about the disaster, could be seized upon by Japan’s increasingly vociferous anti-nuclear movement after the restart of two reactors and as the government readies a new energy policy due out next month.
The panel suggested safety steps taken at other nuclear plants after Fukushima may not be enough to cope with a big, complex catastrophe caused by both human error and natural causes in a “disaster-prone nation” like Japan, which suffers from earthquakes, tsunami and volcanoes.
“We understand that immediate safety measures are being further detailed and will materialize in the future, but we strongly urge the people concerned to make continued efforts to take really effective steps,” said the panel, chaired by University of Tokyo engineering professor Yotaro Hatamura.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, and regulators failed to plan for a massive natural disaster, the panel said, blaming them for being lulled by the same “safety myth” blasted by a parliament-appointed team of experts earlier this month.
“Both the government and companies should establish a new philosophy of disaster prevention that requires safety and disaster measures against any massive accident and disaster ... regardless of event probability,” the report said.
However, the inquiry stopped short of accusing the regulators and TEPCO of “collusion,” a charge included in a strongly worded report by a parliamentary panel earlier this month.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s decision to restart Kansai Electric Power Co’s two reactors this month has energized the country’s growing anti-nuclear movement, with more than 100,000 taking to the streets in Tokyo a week ago. All of Japan’s 50 reactors were shut down for safety checks after Fukushima.
Critics say the two restarted reactors do not meet all the government’s safety criteria announced in April.
The panel called on the government to immediately take additional steps, including ensuring that off-site nuclear accident management centers are protected against the kind of massive radiation leaks that made the one at Fukushima useless.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, 240km north of Tokyo, was hit on March 11 last year by an earthquake and tsunami that knocked out its power supply and swamped its backup power and cooling systems, resulting in meltdowns of three of its six reactors.
About 150,000 people were forced to flee as radioactive materials spewed, some never to return.
The panel said there was no proof the earthquake was a key factor in the disaster, but added that some impact could not be ruled out, contradicting TEPCO’s own findings, which put the blame solely on the tsunami.
The panel called on TEPCO to review data presented to the panel because it believes they contain errors, echoing other criticism of the operator, and urged the utility to carry out further investigations into the causes of the disaster.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
The most powerful solar storm in more than two decades struck Earth on Friday, triggering spectacular celestial light shows from Tasmania to the UK — and threatening possible disruptions to satellites and power grids as it persists into the weekend. The first of several coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun — came just after 4pm GMT, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center. It was later upgraded to an “extreme” geomagnetic storm — the first since the “Halloween Storms” of October 2003 caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion
INFLUENCE: The French president last year appealed to Xi Jinping to ‘bring Russia to its senses,’ but the call was not followed by any apparent change in stance French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday was to press Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to use his influence to move Russia toward ending the war in Ukraine during a two-day state visit to France. The leaders were also expected to discuss trade disputes over electric vehicles, cognac and cosmetics. Macron’s office said talks about diplomatic efforts to support Ukraine and put pressure on Russia are a top priority for France. Discussions would also include the Middle East, trade issues and global challenges including climate change. The European Commission president was to join part of the meetings to raise broader EU concerns. France is