Fukushima bosses admit guilt

From daily The Morning Star in England:

Fukushima nuclear plant firm admits safety culture shortfalls

Friday 14 December 2012

Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuc­lear plant operator Tepco admitted today that its poor safety culture and collusion with Japanese regulators were to blame for the disaster that followed the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The firm said it fully accepted the findings of a parliamentary inquiry.

Tepco’s reform chief Takefumi Anegawa said the report spelled out its “lack of a safety culture and our bad habits.”

He admitted that the meltdowns and explosions at the plant were preventable and the result of “collusion” with regulators.

That was in contrast to the position take a few months ago by Tepco president Naomi Hirose, who said he was baffled by criticism of the privateer.

But asked today what Tepco had done to improve matters, company adviser Dale Klein said only that it had carried out a critical self-assessment and was sharing information.

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