nuclear-news

TEPCO tried to cover up evidence that earthquake, not tsunami, caused nuclear disaster

 “(TEPCO’s explanation) was absolutely false and seriously obstructed the investigation,” Mitsuhiko Tanaka, a former member of the now-disbanded Diet commission, said in a statement submitted to the chiefs of the two Diet chambers on Feb. 7.

TEPCO suspected of false account to Diet panel http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20130207_19.html

Title: TEPCO ‘blocked’ nuclear accident investigation: panel member 
Source: Kyodo
Date: February 07, 2013

[Tepco] blocked an attempt by a Diet-appointed panel to enter the No. 1 reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi complex for an accident investigation last year, saying the unit was “in complete darkness,” which was not true, a member of the panel said Thursday.

The panel members were seeking to determine whether important equipment of the No. 1 reactor had suffered damage as a result of the earthquake on March 11, 2011, before ensuing tsunami ravaged the plant […]

In a report compiled in July last year, the panel said the earthquake may have damaged equipment necessary for ensuring the safety at the No. 1 reactor, touching on the possibility of small-scale pipe breaks.

It also said that several workers who were on the fourth floor of the No. 1 reactor building at the time of the earthquake witnessed a water leak on the same floor, which houses two large tanks for the isolation condenser and piping for the condenser.

Title: TEPCO misled Diet panel, averted quake-damage inspection at Fukushima plant
Source: AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
Source: AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
Author: HIDEAKI KIMURA
Date: February 07, 2013

[…] “(TEPCO’s explanation) was absolutely false and seriously obstructed the investigation,” Mitsuhiko Tanaka, a former member of the now-disbanded Diet commission, said in a statement submitted to the chiefs of the two Diet chambers on Feb. 7.

Tanaka asked the Diet to inspect the No. 1 reactor building to see if isolation condensers–key safety components at nuclear plants–were damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011.

If the emergency cooling system was damaged by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake, stricter quake-resistance standards would be required for nuclear power plants, further delaying the restarts of idled reactors around the country.

The isolation condensers stopped working soon after the earthquake struck, which is believed to have contributed to the early meltdown of the No. 1 reactor. […]
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February 9, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Resources -audiovicual, secrets,lies and civil liberties