A new analysis of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant meltdown
caused by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami a year ago puts some of
the blame on human error and regulatory oversight, but paints an
optimistic picture of the safety of America's nuclear power plants.
The
report, issued by the
American Nuclear Society's special committee on Fukushima, says that the
meltdown was caused by a "catastrophe of monumental, unanticipated
proportions," but says the Japanese response is a "complex story of
mismanagement, culture, and sometimes even simple errors in
translation."
"Given the backdrop of the situation, mistakes related to Fukushima
Daiichi certainly should have been expected," it says. "However, there
were serious problems with accident management and with risk
communication and crisis communication that need to be examined."
In a
New York Times op-ed
published Friday, James Acton and Mark Hibbs, senior associates in the
nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, similarly condemned the Japanese response.
"The potential risks of tsunamis to nuclear power plants are well
understood and a set of international standards has been developed to
mitigate those risks," they wrote. "Despite Japan's history of tsunamis …
Japan's nuclear regulator did not apply those standards."
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