Japan’s nuclear power industry has a terrible record of cover-ups, and the recent earthquake in Niigata has triggered another one. The quake caused fires and a significant leak of radioactive fuel, forcing the government to shut down the world’s largest reactor, owned by Tokyo Electric Power Corporation. TEPCO immediately issued statements downplaying the damage, obfuscating the truth once again. The seriousness of the situation was revealed last week, when the government said it might keep the plant shut for an entire year. According to Reuters:
“The government might order TEPCO to keep the plant closed for more than a year while a safety study is conducted, the Nikkei business newspaper reported, raising questions about possible power shortages during the peak summer demand season…The shutdown might be much longer if the facility – built over what now appears to be an active fault line and long criticized by anti-nuclear activists as unsafe – needs to be reinforced…Japan’s nuclear industry has been tarnished by cover-ups of accidents and fudged safety records. The flow of bad news this week, including TEPCO’s admission that the amount of radiation in water that leaked into the ocean was more than first estimated, has done nothing to ease concerns.”
Signs of fire at the world’s largest reactor complex.
