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TEPCO kept secret for 2 months that Fukushima nuclear meltdown occurred

Fukushima nuclear plant operator kept meltdown quiet for 2 months Company says officials were unaware meltdown defined as damage exceeding 5% of a reactor’s fuel CBC News, The Associated Press Feb 25, 2016  The operator of Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear plant acknowledged Thursday it failed for two months to announce that meltdowns had occurred in the cores of three of the reactors.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said its officials were unaware of a company emergency manual that defined a meltdown as damage exceeding five per cent of a reactor’s fuel.

Instead, TEPCO described the condition of the reactors as less serious “core damage” for two months after the plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, despite early damage estimates ranging from 25 to 55 per cent…….

In May 2011, TEPCO finally adopted the term “meltdown” after a computer simulation showed fuel in one reactor had almost entirely melted and fallen to the bottom of the primary containment chamber, and that two other reactor cores had melted significantly…… http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/japan-fukushima-meltdown-report-1.3463649

February 27, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima 2016