Tuesday 16 October 2012

Tepco report: Fukushima could have been avoided

The Fukushima nuclear disaster last year could have been avoided if better preparations had been made, the Japanese power firm which ran the plant has admitted.

That’s according to an internal task force for the operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, which found the meltdowns could have been dealt with better if closer attention had been paid to international standards and recommendations.

Reactors at the Fukushima plant went into meltdown after the plant’s power supply was disrupted by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake on 11 March 2011 and subsequent tsunami. A quarter of a million people were forced to leave their houses within a 20km radius, some never to return home.

The task force, headed by new Tepco President Naomi Hirose, said in a statement: "Looking back on the accident, the problem was that preparations were not made in advance," reported Japanese press.

The task force made the comments in a draft plan to reform the safety culture of Tepco which was given to an independent advisory body on Friday.