nuclear-news

Newly made public: testimonies of Fukushima nuclear disaster

Govt. releases more accounts of Fukushima disaster  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20141226_03.html NHK Wrld, 25 Dec 14 The Japanese government has released more interview accounts of the 2011 nuclear accident.

772 interviews were conducted in 2011 and 2012 by a government committee that investigated the disaster.

The testimonies came mainly from government officials and staff from Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Some testimonies including those from then prime minister Naoto Kan, and then plant chief Masao Yoshida have already been released.

An additional 127 were made public on Thursday after receiving consent from interviewees.

Among those newly released is one from a worker at Tokyo Electric headquarters. He analyzed conditions inside the reactors in early April 2011 when the effects of the disaster began to unfold.

The official said he thought the upper half of the nuclear fuel rods at the No.1 reactor core must have completely melted. Cooling water was covering only the lower half of the rods.

But the employee added he remembered his company refrained from using the word “meltdown” in news briefings as much as possible. He said he heard TEPCO feared that a misunderstanding could occur as there was no exact definition for the term. Nuclear fuel melted at the No.1, 2 and 3 reactors. But Tokyo Electric admitted the possibility of meltdowns only in May 2011.

December 27, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima 2014