Japanese government delayed giving information to the public, according to interim report into the disaster
Photograph: Ken Shimizu/AFP/Getty Images
Japan’s response to the nuclear crisis that followed the tsunami in March was confused and riddled with problems , a report has revealed.
The disturbing picture of harried workers and government officials scrambling to respond to the problems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was depicted in the report, detailing a government investigation.
The 507-page interim report, compiled by interviewing more than 400 people, including utility workers and government officials, found that authorities had grossly underestimated tsunami risks, assuming the highest wave would be six metres (20ft). The tsunami hit at more than double that level.
The report criticised the use of the term soteigai, meaning unforeseeable, which it said implied authorities were shirking responsibility for what had happened. It said by labelling the events as beyond what could have been expected, officials had invited public distrust.
The report found that workers at Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the utility that ran Fukushima Daiichi, were untrained to handle emergencies such as the power shutdown that struck when the tsunami destroyed backup generators, setting off a nuclear disaster. There was no clear manual to follow, and the workers failed to communicate, not only with the government but also among themselves, it said.
Finding alternative ways to bring water to the reactors was delayed for hours because of the mishandling of an emergency cooling system, the report said. Workers assumed the system was working, despite signs it had failed and was sending the nuclear core into meltdown.
A better response might have reduced the core damage, radiation leaks and the hydrogen explosions that followed at two reactors and sent plumes of radiation into the air.
"A newly released report on the Fukushima nuclear crisis says it was down to the plant’s operators being ill-prepared and not responding properly to the earthquake and tsunami disaster. A major government inquiry said some engineers abandoned the plant as the trouble started and other staff delayed reporting significant radiation leaks. Professor Christopher Busby, scientific secretary to the European Committee on Radiation Risks, says health damage after contamination will be more serious than Japan announced. "
Soldier Beheaded in Broad Daylight Machete Attack 2013 05 23 Woolwich attack: terrorist proclaimed ’an eye for an eye’ after attack
A British soldier has been butchered on a busy London street by two Islamist terrorists, one of whom proclaimed afterwards: “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”
In the first terrorist murder on the British mainland since the 7/7 suicide bombings of 2005, the men attempted ...
Ciudad Blanca Found? The lost city in Honduras 2013 05 23 Explorers have been searching on foot for Honduras’s mythical city for generations. Now, they seem to have found it from a tiny Cessna airplane, aided by million-dollar technology.
Is the fabled lost city of Honduras hiding beneath the dense jungle canopy?
The Mosquitia rain forests of Honduras and Nicaragua are, to put it mildly, thick jungle. As one travel guide notes, "While ...
Cheetah-bot races into your post-apocalyptic nightmares 2013 05 23 An ongoing robotics project at MIT aiming to recreate the gait of a cheetah is sharing a new video showing off the latest progress. There’s a long way to go before anyone would call it catlike, but it’s impressive nevertheless.
MIT Cheetah
The Biomimetic Robotics Lab at MIT is attempting to create things much like those being made by the more well-known ...
When an Army of Artists Fooled Hitler 2013 05 23 Shortly after the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, two Frenchmen on bicycles managed to cross the perimeter of the United States Army’s 23rd Headquarters Special Troops and what they saw astounded them. Four American soldiers had picked up a 40-ton Sherman tank and were turning it in place.
Soldier Arthur Shilstone says, “They looked at me, and they were ...
Why Did Penguins Stop Flying? 2013 05 23
Researchers from the University of Manitoba have shown that birds can either be very good at flying or swimming, but not both. And they’ve been studying a very awkward seabird to prove it.
Animals that can fly really have it good. Flight allows for quick getaways, aerial view hunting, expanded territorial ranges, and the ability to travel vast distances when making ...
Soldier Beheaded in Broad Daylight Machete Attack
Ciudad Blanca Found? The lost city in Honduras
Cheetah-bot races into your post-apocalyptic nightmares
When an Army of Artists Fooled Hitler 
Why Did Penguins Stop Flying?