nuclear-news

Audio: Fukushima nuclear disaster set off by earthquake, not tsunami

as to the mystery of the reactor one building and the possibility
that it was damaged before the tsunami hit, in its report the
parliamentary panel found that there was a possibility that pipes had
burst during the earthquake causing a cooling problem.

AUDIO;Tepco lied to Fukushima meltdown investigators
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/connect-asia/tepco-lied-to-fukushima-meltdown-investigators/1085944
8 February 2013,   In a further blow to its already battered
credibility, the operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant
has been caught out misleading investigators appointed by the Japanese
parliament to probe the meltdowns. An audio recording reveals that a
TEPCO official gave false testimony in an apparent bid to stop an
investigation being carried out inside the shattered Reactor One
building.

The official repeatedly said the building was dark and dangerous and
there was a risk of getting lost in a high radiation area – a
testimony that turned out to be false.

Correspondent: Mark Willacy, Tokyo Correspondent

Speaker: Toshimitsu Tamai, TEPCO official MARK WILLACY: It remains one
of the biggest mysteries of the Fukushima meltdowns – was the cooling
system in the plant’s oldest reactor, reactor one, damaged by the
massive earthquake before it was even swamped by the tsunami?

That was what the investigation panel appointed by the Japanese
parliament wanted to know during its cross examinations of TEPCO
officials last year.

And to get to the bottom of this mystery the investigators wanted
access to the reactor one building.

But as this recording of a meeting between TEPCO official Toshimitsu
Tamai and investigation panel member Mitsuhiko Tanaka makes clear, the
company wanted none of it.

(Sound of Toshimitsu Tamai speaking)

“Now there’s a cover over the building,” says TEPCO’s Mr Tamai. “There
are no lights. So I’d like you to understand that the building is
completely dark. You won’t see anything,” he tells investigator
Mitsuhiko Tanaka.

To support his case the TEPCO official produces some images showing
shafts of light inside the reactor one building. Those pictures,
explains Mr Tamai, were taken before the roof cover went on the
shattered structure.

Now, he explains again, the building is in complete darkness. In fact,
as the tape recording obtained by Japan’s Asahi newspaper reveals,
Toshimitsu Tamai spent one hour and nine minutes insisting that there
was no way investigators could see anything inside.

(Sound of Toshimitsu Tamai speaking)

“If you get lost in there, you’ll enter a terribly high radiation
area,” warns the TEPCO official. “You won’t know how to get back
again,” he says.

But this was all false. So what does TEPCO say in response to the
allegation that one of its officials lied to parliament-appointed
investigators?

Well in a statement to the Asahi newspaper the company apologised,
admitting there had been a mistake and saying it had no intention of
making a false statement.

And as to the mystery of the reactor one building and the possibility
that it was damaged before the tsunami hit, in its report the
parliamentary panel found that there was a possibility that pipes had
burst during the earthquake causing a cooling problem.

It called for a full investigation – one that still has not been carried out.

February 9, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Resources -audiovicual