Japan’s current administration is reportedly prepared to restart nuclear reactors to support the massive energy expenditure of the nation even amidst massive public protests. And according to a new government-supported study regarding the Fukushima crisis, the “myth of nuclear safety” could be playing a part in this.
The 450-page study was compiled by various experts from the field of engineering, law, media and a group of scholars. It said the officials were not trained well enough to handle the crisis following the reactors’ meltdown last year.
“The fundamental problem lies in the fact that utilities, including TEPCO and the government, have failed to see the danger as reality as they were bound by a myth of nuclear safety and the notion that severe accidents do not happen at nuclear plants in our country,” the report said.
The report is the latest made into the worse nuclear disaster in modern times that happened after an unprecedented tsunami on March 2011 hit the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Also according to the report, TEPCO and NISA (Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency were both unprepared to cope with severe accidents and weather conditions, and that the government itself has messed up the evacuation.
“Both the government and companies should establish a new philosophy of disaster prevention that requires safety and disaster measures against any massive accident and disaster … regardless of event probability,” according to the report.
The report also noted that even though NISA is under the economic ministry of the country, it was a “toothless entity” which could not come up to the public’s expectations. Now, the government is apparently trying to overhaul the agency in an attempt to make it more effective and independent.
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