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Fukushima disaster could have been avoided’: TEPCO takes blame in strongest terms eve
Japanese Power Company TEPCO has taken most of the blame for the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster two years after. The catastrophe could have been avoided if not for the company’s shortcomings, it says in a report.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) the utility that operates Japan’s crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant acknowledged that the company was not prepared to deal with the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011.
“We need to sincerely accept the outcome that we were not able to prevent an accident that should have been prevented by making preparations,” TEPCO President Naomi Hirose said at a press conference, as quoted by Japanese Kyodo news agency.
In particular TEPCO’s equipment and safety measures were insufficient, according to the report. Among the admitted missteps the company named the improper location of the backup power systems, which almost immediately broke down and made the nuclear crisis inevitable.
TEPCO also admitted that it failed to inform the public of risks and troubles at the plant.
The company has begun distributing application forms to 50,000 households who evacuated from 11 affected municipalities after the nuclear disaster. The property owners are seeking compensation for land and buildings in the nuclear no-go zone near the power plant, Japanese NHK News agency reports. The estimated total compensation could reach 7.6 billion dollars, according to the utility
http://rt.com/news/japan-nuclear-crisis-blame-053/
2013-03-29 10:04:22
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