nuclear-news

Independent inquiry: did earthquake first damage Fukushima’s nuclear reactors?

The panel includes legal, nuclear and medical experts. Seismologist Katsuhiko Ishibashi has long warned of tsunami risks in the earthquake-prone country where all 54 nuclear reactors are built on the coastline. Engineer Mitsuhiko Tanaka designed nuclear reactors at Babcock-Hitachi K.K. and has suggested the March quake damaged the Fukushima reactors before the tsunami.

New probe to cut deeper in Japan nuclear crisis17 JAN 2012  3 News New Zealand, By Mari Yamaguchi 

http://www.3news.co.nz/New-probe-to-cut-deeper-in-Japan-nuclear-crisis/tabid/417/articleID/239500/Default.aspx  A newly formed investigative panel on Japan’s nuclear disaster will use its subpoena powers wisely and cut deeper into the accident than the government’s probe, according to the leader of the independent commission.

The panel appointed by parliament last month has gained attention here because its 10 members include outspoken critics of Japan’s nuclear policy who long ago questioned the seismic risks to the country’s 54 nuclear reactors.

It is expected to examine the extent to which the 9.0-magnitude earthquake contributed to the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, as well as the ensuing tsunami and radiation alert system.
Interim reports by the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. focused
on the tsunami and deny the quake itself caused damage that led to
fires, reactor meltdowns and radiation leaks from the plant.
“We will get to the bottom of the case and compile a proposal for the
future as we strive to live up to the people’s expectations,” panel
chairman Kiyoshi Kurokawa told reporters after the commission had its
first full open meeting. “We will seek how we can be different from
the government panel.”
During the meeting, a government official who was summoned to provide
overview of the ministry’s accident response revealed that Japan had
provided crucial radiation leakage data to the US on March 14, nearly
10 days before disclosing them to its own people….
The panel is the first bipartisan investigative panel appointed by
parliament in its modern political history, said Kurokawa, an expert
of internal medicine and a professor at the National Graduate
Institute for Policy Studies.
It is also the first that can request that parliament subpoena
witnesses and documents, although the lack of a penalty for objectors
raises questions on its effectiveness. The panel will submit its
findings to parliament around June for action to be taken.
The panel includes legal, nuclear and medical experts. Seismologist
Katsuhiko Ishibashi has long warned of tsunami risks in the
earthquake-prone country where all 54 nuclear reactors are built on
the coastline. Engineer Mitsuhiko Tanaka designed nuclear reactors at
Babcock-Hitachi K.K. and has suggested the March quake damaged the
Fukushima reactors before the tsunami.
http://www.3news.co.nz/New-probe-to-cut-deeper-in-Japan-nuclear-crisis/tabid/417/articleID/239500/Default.aspx

January 18, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, Resources -audiovicual, safety