October 25, 2011
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has no crisis-management manuals in the event of a prolonged full power loss. This was revealed in the manual for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, released on October 24.
After the nuclear accident caused by the 3.11 great earthquake and tsunami, the nuclear plant lost all of its power. Lack of proper instructions to deal with that type of severe accident, workers at the site had to carry out measures such as venting steam from reactor containment vessels without knowing what should be done.
TEPCO initially made public the manuals with many parts blacked out, insisting it was required for securing nuclear materials and protecting intellectual property. This caused public anger and more and more people called on the company to disclose the documents.
A part of the manuals for the No.1 reactor was submitted by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to board members of a House of Representatives’ special committee. In addition, the documents on how TEPCO applied the manuals to the accident were also presented. The rest of the manuals is planned to be released later.
Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Yoshii Hidekatsu in a statement pointed out that the “nuclear safety myth” was the reason why the electric company failed to take steps to prepare for a full power loss. He said, “The government and electric companies kept saying that nuclear power plants are safe, and this prevented them from ensuring measures to deal with severe accidents be provided.”
After the nuclear accident caused by the 3.11 great earthquake and tsunami, the nuclear plant lost all of its power. Lack of proper instructions to deal with that type of severe accident, workers at the site had to carry out measures such as venting steam from reactor containment vessels without knowing what should be done.
TEPCO initially made public the manuals with many parts blacked out, insisting it was required for securing nuclear materials and protecting intellectual property. This caused public anger and more and more people called on the company to disclose the documents.
A part of the manuals for the No.1 reactor was submitted by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to board members of a House of Representatives’ special committee. In addition, the documents on how TEPCO applied the manuals to the accident were also presented. The rest of the manuals is planned to be released later.
Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Yoshii Hidekatsu in a statement pointed out that the “nuclear safety myth” was the reason why the electric company failed to take steps to prepare for a full power loss. He said, “The government and electric companies kept saying that nuclear power plants are safe, and this prevented them from ensuring measures to deal with severe accidents be provided.”
