Gov't panel to investigate cause of Fukushima crisis launched
TOKYO —
An independent panel, apppointed by the government to investigate the cause of the Fukushima nuclear accident and come up with a solution to the crisis, was launched in the Diet on Thursday.
The 10-member panel, which is chaired by Kiyoshi Kurokawa, 75, former president of the Science Council of Japan, includes experts such as Nobel chemistry laureate Koichi Tanaka.
NHK reported that the panel will operate independently of other government panels. It will hold interviews in open sessions, sift through relevant documents and make on-site inspections with the aim of delivering a final report to the Diet by next June.
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-2
Patrick Hattman
This will be a big waste of yen.
This doesn't mean the bureaucracy will act on any of their findings a year from now. In fact, they probably won't.
-2
globalwatcher
Waste of tax payerrs money! 6 yrs old kids can tell you the cause.
-1
ssway
Any it will be 100% factual. Of course.
1
marcelito
Gee....the efficiency and speed of Jgovt at its best on display here..
0
MaboDofuIsSpicy
It is not the govt.
0
ka_chan
There is only one solution... bury the Fukushima plant as they did chernobyl's. But most likely they will partial bury Fukushima some parts can still run. Not as good as a solution but then they can say Nuclear power is still safe. Ignoring the environmental damage that Fukushima is still doing. But Japan is not Germany and will not take the correct step of elimination nuclear power altogether.
-1
marcelito
It is independent panel but it IS appointed by the government...
1
jforce
Appointed by the government says it all to me. They have 6 months to uncover everything? Why not bring in an international panel? Gee, I wonder... could it be pride?
1
crustpunker
the hand picked Kiyoshi Kurokawa, and Nobel chemistry laureate Koichi Tanaka are on the team so that when the "government appointed" panel draws inevitable conclusions of "nothing could have been done to prevent this disaster" and "TEPCO and the Jgov is not to blame." It will vindicate both parties from any real responsibility by the findings of the so-called "independent" (probably bribed) experts.
1
Moondog
The "cause" is already known. The plant was built to withstand an 11 meter tsunami in an area that is well-known to be hit by 25+ meter tsunami on average once every 40 years (which is also the expected life-span of the plant, by the way).
What needs to determined is "why" (hint: it rhymes with "honey") and "who." (Hmm. What rhymes with "amakudari?") When they determine the latter, those persons should be handed lengthy prison terms of, say, 30 years or more.
3
zichi
The cause of the worse atomic disaster in the history of the country, and the worse in the world since Chernobyl 25 years ago, is one word, five letters.
TEPCO!
Who have denied everything except for the tsunami which according to a TEPCO internal investigation, was to blame for everything. TEPCO even denies the radiation belongs to them, once it leaves the atomic power plant.
Why are they still in business? Why isn't the company president in prison?
0
warnerbro
"includes experts such as Nobel chemistry laureate Koichi Tanaka." He's hardly an expert on nuclear disasters. He's just camouflage for the panel's already written scientifically unsubstantiated conclusions.
-1
herefornow
zichi -- agreed. Why not just save the time and admit the obvious? TEPCO, enabled by regulators set on protecting the nuclear industry, rather than the public, and politicians too busy with playing politics rather than actually serving the public. No mystery here.
0
gogogo
I hope it recommends people to be fired and or jailed. Because METI is connected to the government I'm sure we will never know the real truth.
0
bajhista65
All the way, I thought there had been investigations going on. What happened to that investigations? It's very clear, the meltdown was caused by TEPCO's poor safety measures and assumptions to safeguard the Nuke Power Plants in cases of severe force of nature.
0
Star-viking
Moondog Dec. 09, 2011 - 11:51AM JST
Where do you get that fact Moondog, the last sizable Tsunami to hit that part of Fukushima was in 869 AD.
0
Farmboy
The cause - the earthquake, the tsunami, the loss of power, the poor planning, the poor training, the design, the proximity to the ocean.... they're going to need to use a lot of paper for this report.
Still, IF the panel can find a way to shut down a nuclear reactor safely no matter what the conditions are, by June, then this will be useful. The main risks to nuke plants are power loss, earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, storms, wars, and terrorism. All of these risks should be carefully considered, and then they will undoubtedly recommend getting rid of the nuke plants....one would hope.
0
Moondog
Star-viking wrote:
You must be a lawyer! LOL. I'm sure the TEPCO lawyers will be making similar defenses.
If you say the last time a "sizable" tsunami hit "that part of the Fukushima coast"was in 869 A.D., I'm willing to believe you. But the problem with that 'fact' is that it's like telling a golfer that although lightening often hits trees on the course it's okay to stand under a particular tree during an electrical storm because lightening has never hit that tree.
In fact, tsunami hit up and down the Sanriku Coast on average every 40 years. That's why it's also know as "The Tsunami Coast." This is documented in numerous news reports and academic papers going back over a hundred years. Google it!
Tsunami hit the Sanriku coast in 1896, 1933, 1960 and now 2011. The 1960 tsunami was caused by a 9.5M earthquake in Chile and was just a decade before Fukushima was built. It was estimated at 23.6 meters while the '33 quake was about 30 meters. The tsunami in 1896 was about 25 meters.
That none of these happened to hit the "area" of the Fukushima plant means nothing. They hit nearby and the tsunami you mention in 869 indicates that Fukushima is, historically, also at risk.
The plant, which was built in the early 70's had an estimated use period of about 50 years so it could be reasonably expected that a tsunami in the range of 25 to 30 meters might hit it at least once during that period. And one did.
The plant is on a 13 meter rise above the sea and had a 5.7 meter wall so it's clear they prepared for less that could be expected, about 18 meters. Now, a tsunami of at least 30 meters could be reasonably expected so reason should have told them to prepare for 30 or even 40 meters to be on the safe side.
They put saving money ahead of safety and that's why they should go to prison.
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