The appalling track record of Japan's nuclear industry - Moneyweek (UK)

[flamingdem]

http://www.moneyweek.com/blog/the-appalling-track-record-of-japans-nuclear-industry-00336

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But there is one section of Japan that really is working all too well to type. The nuclear industry. In 1995, there was a major leak at Monju, a fast breeder reactor. The authorities (as represented by Donen which managed Japan's nuclear programme) said it was "minimal." It wasn't. Instead it was the largest accident of its type ever. In the world.

Still as Alex Kerr points out in his excellent Dogs and Demons that was nothing that couldn’t be dealt with by "hiding the evidence." Donen staff edited the film of the accident, taking out the 15 minutes that showed the actual damage and releasing only five minutes of very innocuous material.

However this level of secrecy was nothing next to what happened in 1997. Then drums filled with nuclear waste exploded at the Tokai plant just north of Tokyo. This was – or should have been – a particular worry given that only three years earlier it had been discovered that 70kgs of plutonium (enough for 20 bombs) had been lost in the plant's pipes at some point.

Yet Donen simply pretended everything was fine. Managers pressurized workers to say the fire was under control when it was not and mis-stated the amount of material leaked by a factor of 20. But that's not all. Incredibly, says Kerr, "on the day of the explosion, 64 people including science and engineering students and foreign trainees toured the complex… and no one ever informed them of the accident."

The list of the madness is almost endless. There was the later accident at the Tokai plant which degenerated into uncontrolled fission (something it took the authorities seven hours to figure out as they couldn't find a neutron measurer) and revealed that for years workers had been disposing of nuclear materials with buckets (rather than dissolution cylinders).

[Name removed]

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[flamingdem]

2. This material is mindblowing, wonder if Tepco is connected the new Donon

Or if any executives from Donon went to Tepco ... that explains the ethical attitude, secrecy, incompetence and employee treatment!

[Someguyinjapan]

3. You know as well as I do

That Japanese governmental/industrial collusion over the past 60-odd years has not been limited to TEPCO and Fukushima; overall lack of ethics, secrecy and incompetence has been well-documented. The only reason that this is receiving so much play is the potential global ramifications. How many posters even know where Minimata Bay is, let alone having read up on it?

[Name removed]

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[kristopher]

6. As bad as they are I believe the rest of the nuclear industry is even worse.

esp France, US and Russia. When everything is able to be explained away with government authority and modern press/message management there is a very limited amount of public interest in the corner-cutting and back-room deals that are now so important. That in turn means in the good times limited resources are able to be devoted to combing through the huge amounts of data that the nuggets of truth are buried in. It isn't until a disaster places a country or corporation under the microscope that we have enough attention focused to bring the daily truth out.

It's a crap shoot as to who is next.

[Someguyinjapan]

7. That may be.

Yep, maybe France, the US and Russia are worse when it comes to nuclear safety. That said, two things: first, Fukushima isn't happening in France, the US or Russia right now. It's happening in Japan. Second, I am in Japan right now, so my immediate concern is with what goes on here, and not elsewhere.

I think it's understandable that my focus is on what goes on here with the government and it's nuclear industry and not somewhere else.

[kristopher]

8. Yes...

...it's reasonable for you to have that focus; I have a lot of loved ones there also so I share it.

However that doesn't restrict or impair my ability to also be concerned about the broader picture that the disaster is part of; something I would urge you to consider for yourself since it is directly impacting how Nagata-cho and Tepco are handing this disaster.

My wife and I have concluded that if we were there it would not be possible to relocate and leave the rest behind to face what is happening. Have you considered leaving?

[Someguyinjapan]

9. I consider it every week

Basically, I make the call at the end of every week whether to stay or to go; that said, I've got a bag packed and ready with my passport and documents in it, money ready to go and 3 or 4 different ways to exit the country should things take a sudden and catastrophic turn for the worse. I can leave on 48 hours notice. I would hate to do that, but if I had to choose between my personal well-being and my job, the choice is obvious.

[defendandprotect]

5. kr