Japan admits: We were overwhelmed and slow
Source: Agencies |
March 19, 2011, Saturday
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The Japanese government acknowledged yesterday it was overwhelmed by the scale of last week's twin natural disasters, slowing the response to the nuclear crisis triggered by the earthquake and tsunami.
The admission came as Japan welcomed United States help in stabilizing its overheated, radiation-leaking nuclear complex, and reclassified the rating of the accident from Level 4 to Level 5.
Nuclear experts have been saying for days that Japan was underplaying the severity of the nuclear crisis, which later yesterday the prime minister called "very grave."
Hidehiko Nishiyama, of Japan's nuclear safety agency, said the rating was raised when officials realized that at least 3 percent of the fuel in three of the six reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had been severely damaged, suggesting those reactor cores have partially melted down and thrown radioactivity into the environment.
"The unprecedented scale of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, frankly speaking, were among many things that happened that had not been anticipated under our disaster management contingency plans," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.
"In hindsight, we could have moved a little quicker in assessing the situation and coordinating all that information and provided it faster," he said.
Later, Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged the nation to unite. "We will rebuild Japan from scratch. We must all share this resolve," he said in a televised address.
At the stricken complex, military fire trucks sprayed the reactor units for a second day, with tons of water arcing over the facility in desperate attempts to prevent the fuel from overheating.
Last week's quake and tsunami set off the nuclear problems by knocking out power to cooling systems at the Fukushima plant on the northeast coast.
Since then, four of its six reactor units have seen fires, explosions or partial meltdowns.
The unfolding crises have led to power shortages in Japan, forced factories to close, sent shock waves through global manufacturing and triggered a plunge in stock prices.
One week after the twin disasters - which have officially left 6,911 dead and 10,754 missing - emergency crews are facing two challenges in the nuclear crisis: cooling the reactors where energy is generated, and cooling the adjacent pools where used nuclear fuel rods are stored.
Both need water to stop their uranium from heating up and emitting radiation, but with radiation levels inside the complex limiting where workers can go and how long they can remain, it's been difficult to get enough water inside.
The US says its technical experts are exchanging information with officials from Tokyo Electric Power Co, which owns the plant, and with government agencies.
Meanwhile, tsunami survivors observed a minute's silence yesterday to mark one week since the quake. Many were bundled up against the cold at shelters in the disaster zone, pressing their hands together in prayer.
The admission came as Japan welcomed United States help in stabilizing its overheated, radiation-leaking nuclear complex, and reclassified the rating of the accident from Level 4 to Level 5.
Nuclear experts have been saying for days that Japan was underplaying the severity of the nuclear crisis, which later yesterday the prime minister called "very grave."
Hidehiko Nishiyama, of Japan's nuclear safety agency, said the rating was raised when officials realized that at least 3 percent of the fuel in three of the six reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had been severely damaged, suggesting those reactor cores have partially melted down and thrown radioactivity into the environment.
"The unprecedented scale of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, frankly speaking, were among many things that happened that had not been anticipated under our disaster management contingency plans," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano.
"In hindsight, we could have moved a little quicker in assessing the situation and coordinating all that information and provided it faster," he said.
Later, Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged the nation to unite. "We will rebuild Japan from scratch. We must all share this resolve," he said in a televised address.
At the stricken complex, military fire trucks sprayed the reactor units for a second day, with tons of water arcing over the facility in desperate attempts to prevent the fuel from overheating.
Last week's quake and tsunami set off the nuclear problems by knocking out power to cooling systems at the Fukushima plant on the northeast coast.
Since then, four of its six reactor units have seen fires, explosions or partial meltdowns.
The unfolding crises have led to power shortages in Japan, forced factories to close, sent shock waves through global manufacturing and triggered a plunge in stock prices.
One week after the twin disasters - which have officially left 6,911 dead and 10,754 missing - emergency crews are facing two challenges in the nuclear crisis: cooling the reactors where energy is generated, and cooling the adjacent pools where used nuclear fuel rods are stored.
Both need water to stop their uranium from heating up and emitting radiation, but with radiation levels inside the complex limiting where workers can go and how long they can remain, it's been difficult to get enough water inside.
The US says its technical experts are exchanging information with officials from Tokyo Electric Power Co, which owns the plant, and with government agencies.
Meanwhile, tsunami survivors observed a minute's silence yesterday to mark one week since the quake. Many were bundled up against the cold at shelters in the disaster zone, pressing their hands together in prayer.
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