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People’s welfare the last priority – damning report on Fukushima nuclear catastrophe

FINAL REPORT (2) : Concern for people’s lives was not a priority July 06, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Concern for people’s lives seemed to be the last thing on the minds of officials at Tokyo Electric Power Co. or the central government as they scrambled to contain the nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture last year.

This is one of the grim assessments that emerge from the final report issued July 5 by a Diet task force that investigated the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The Diet’s Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission suggested that health and safety concerns simply were not a priority.

The commission was especially critical of the lack of safety measures taken in the past as well as the initial response to the disaster triggered by the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011. It concluded that plant operator TEPCO and the central government showed an utter lack of responsibility in doing everything possible to protect the lives of those most affected.

Delay in implementing measures proved to be costly The final report pointed to problems that arose after TEPCO and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) failed to implement safety measures even though they knew the plant was dangerously vulnerable to a major earthquake and tsunami crashing into the coast.

“The accident cannot be said to have been totally unexpected and there is no way that responsibility can be avoided,” the report stated. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201207060088

July 7, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima 2012