Japan nuclear power plant disaster was man-made: report

By Alex Veeneman on July 5, 2012


Scenes from the earthquake in tsunami which struck the northeastern coast of Japan in March 2011. A government report says the power plants affected afterwards were in a disaster that was man-made.
(Photo courtesy of Flickr user 89akurt)

A panel with the Parliament in Japan have concluded that the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant was man made.

The plant crisis stemmed from the tsunami and earthquake that hit the country in March last year, which caused the shut down of many of the country’s nuclear power reactors. The report the panel issued blamed the culture and the ability to question authority, according to a report from the BBC.

In the report, the panel says the disaster could have been prevented, saying according to the BBC that it “could and should have been foreseen and prevented”, with its effects “mitigated by a more effective human response”.

“Although triggered by these cataclysmic events, the subsequent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant cannot be regarded as a natural disaster,” the report says according to the BBC. “It was a profoundly man-made disaster, that could and should have been foreseen and prevented.”

The report adds that the regulators needed to ensure nuclear safety for the country’s future. “Japan’s regulators need to shed the insular attitude of ignoring international safety standards and transform themselves into a globally trusted entity,” the report says according to the BBC. The report also criticized the Japan power company Tepco and the office of the Prime Minister at the time, Naoto Kan, saying there were communication issues after the disaster had occurred.

The tsunami and earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan on the 11th of March in 2011, causing according to the BBC the nuclear power stations to go into meltdown. Tepco then declared them stable in December of that year.

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