Japanese Government Confirms Meltdown

[maryf]

Japanese Government Confirms
Meltdown
Japanʼs Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said March 12 that the explosion at
the Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 nuclear plant could only have been caused by a meltdown of
the reactor core, Japanese daily Nikkei reported. This statement seemed somewhat at
odds with Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edanoʼs comments earlier March 12,
in which he said “the walls of the building containing the reactor were destroyed, meaning
that the metal container encasing the reactor did not explode.”
NISAʼs statement is significant because it is the government agency that reports to the
Agency for Natural Resources and Energy within the Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry. NISA works in conjunction with the Atomic Energy Commission. Its role is to
provide oversight to the industry and is responsible for signing off construction of new
plants, among other things. It has been criticized for approving nuclear plants on
geological fault lines and for an alleged conflict of interest in regulating the nuclear sector.
It was NISA that issued the order for the opening of the valve to release pressure — and
thus allegedly some radiation — from the Fukushima power plant.
NISA has also overseen the entire government response to the nuclear reactor problems
following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. It is difficult to determine at this point
whether the NISA statement is accurate, as the Nikkei report has not been corroborated
by others. It is also not clear from the context whether NISA is stating the conclusions of
an official assessment or simply making a statement. However, the Tokyo Electric Power
Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, also said that although it had
relieved pressure, nevertheless some nuclear fuel had melted and further action was
necessary to contain the pressure.
If this report is accurate, it would not be the first time statements by NISA and Edano have
diverged. When Edano earlier claimed that radiation levels had fallen at the site after the
depressurization efforts, NISA claimed they had risen due to the release of radioactive
vapors.

http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20110312-japanese-government-confirms-meltdown?utm_source=redalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=110312%286%29&utm_content=readmore&elq=3a54cdc0f59549cb987ae69f575b58c4

[maryf]

1. Hey, thanks for the recs!

I posted this and left, pretty scary info...No nukes, No way, No how!

[northernlights]

2. this is from yesterday morning and was posted multiple times yesterday nt

[maryf]

3. so, I didn't see it then

likely others didn't either...not everybody has that much time...thanks for the report!