[NukeNet] Greenpeace On TEPCO/Japanese NPP Lies

[Bill Smirnow]

  >The Japanese nuclear industry, and TEPCO in particular, is no stranger to
scandal.

>In 2002, three top TEPCO officials resigned after finally acknowledging
that the company had violated safety >regulations and falsified records at
three of its largest nuclear power plants (including the one at
Kashiwazaki). All >17 TEPCO reactors were ordered to shut down at the end of
the investigation. The cover-up had been going on since >the 1980s.



 Thanks to Jim Riccio for this. Click on URL for hyperlinks and please
forward this to media:

   http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/earthquake-fire-and-nuclear-l

Earthquake, fire and nuclear leak in Japan
July 19, 2007
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A 6.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the world's largest nuclear plant on
Monday, causing a transformer fire. Since then, revelations have been coming
out about spills and leaks at the plant.

Initially, plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said there was
no leak of radioactivity. Then it said there was a small leak of
radioactively contaminated water.  Then the size of the leak turned out to
be much larger than originally reported, and the water was 50 percent more
radioactive than they had first said.  Then it came out that hundreds of
nuclear waste barrels had fallen over, with the lids coming off dozens of
them.  Oh and, it was revealed that cobalt-60 and chromium-51 was released
into the atmosphere from an exhaust stack.


Lucky?

It's hard to call the residents of Kashiwazaki lucky.  Hundreds were injured
by the quake, at least nine have died and  thousands have been rushed to
emergency shelters.  But, if any of the four working reactors had lost power
to their coolant system, it could have gone much worse.  From the Citizens'
Nuclear Information Center:


Even after automatic shutdown, the fuel in the reactor core is still
extremely hot, so it is necessary to maintain a continual flow of coolant.
If it is not maintained, the fuel could melt, leading to the release of
highly radioactive material into the environment. Under some circumstances,
it could also result in an explosion.

Despite the potential seriousness of this fire, TEPCO failed to announce
whether the transformer continued to operate, or whether the emergency
generator started up.


According to Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun, TEPCO admitted its disaster
response measures did not function successfully, and that there were only
four workers available to extinguish the fire, which burned for almost two
hours.

The ground vibrations from the earthquake were more severe than the nuclear
plant was designed to withstand, and there are some indications that a
previously undiscovered fault line runs under the plant.  Japan is one of
the world's most earthquake prone countries, and also one of the most
reliant on nuclear power.  Not a good combination.

The delay in reporting leaks and spills also comes as no surprise to
industry watchers, but it does seem that Japan's government may finally be
loosing patience with an industry rocked by scandal for the past decade.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters, "They raised the alert too late. I
have sent stern instructions that such alerts must be raised seriously and
swiftly." He continued, "Those involved should reflect on their actions."

"Nuclear power can only operate with the people's trust," Abe told
reporters. The litany below shows that the betrayal of peoples trust is
standing operating procedure for Japan's nuclear industry.

Nuclear power is never safe, but it is even more dangerous with a potent
combination of lies, cover-ups and geological fault lines.


A lot to reflect on

The Japanese nuclear industry, and TEPCO in particular, is no stranger to
scandal.

In 2002, three top TEPCO officials resigned after finally acknowledging that
the company had violated safety regulations and falsified records at three
of its largest nuclear power plants (including the one at Kashiwazaki). All
17 TEPCO reactors were ordered to shut down at the end of the investigation.
The cover-up had been going on since the 1980s.

More examples:

March 2007 - It was discovered that the Hokuriku utility did not inform the
public or nuclear inspectors about a serious incident at Shika nuclear power
plant where, on July 18th, 1999, failure of control rods lead to an
uncontrolled chain reaction.

April 2006 - A radioactive spill of 40 litres of liquid containing plutonium
occurs at a brand new reprocessing plant in Rokkasho-Mura.

August 2004 - A ruptured pipe in Mihama nuclear power plant kills five
workers.

July 2002 - A shipment of plutonium pellets leaves Japan, on a return
journey to the UK, after revelations that British Nuclear Fuels falsified
records about safety checks in their production.

September 1999 - Workers at a fuel factory in Tokaimura fail to follow
guidelines, leading to an uncontrolled chain reaction that lasts for three
days. Three workers die due to high irradiation and the neighbourhood is
evacuated.


More examples in this Boston Globe article.

More information about Japan's nuclear program from the Citizens' Nuclear
Information Center.


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