NAIIC Report insufficient and misleading

The National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) has published the report today. Here is the English version of the report.

Reflecting the history of nuclear power generation in Japan, they conclude it was not a natural disaster but a manmade one. The electrical power companies and the administrative agencies have been, as they conclude, responsible for the disaster. Both of them could have prepared for the warthquake as well as the tsunami. They have been so conceited since 1950s when the nuclear power generation project was started. The direct cause of the accident could be the safety system being damaged by the earth quake; they are pretty conservative as for this issue. They say nobody should be accused for this accident. But new law and new regulating agency are required to overcome the problem.

This report seems not to have investigated the real cause. One reason is that they could never access the accident place by themselves. They just infer a possibility that the safety system has acted up with the quake. I believe that, despite of the inaccessibility to the accident site, they could conclude that the quake was the 1st hit to the catastrophe if they have investigated the available data on the pressure and the cooling in the nuclear plant water level. They could have denied the conclusion by the TEPCO and the government that it was due to the tsunami. The latter conclusion was intended to neglect or evaluate less of the effect of the quake, which is favorable to go on running the other nuclear power plants from now on.

The most serious defect of this report is that they have never mentioned of the meaning of the jeopardy. Once a nuclear power plant undergoes such a serious accident as that in Fukushima, it is impossible for us to control or to calm it down. This should not be emphasized more. They have never, however, mentioned of this fact in this report. It seems they would ignore it so that they could go on running the other nuclear power plants with the regulating law and system are renewed. They have lit an aspect of this accident, that is, the fact it ought to occur with the defect in the power company and the regulating bureaucracy. But it is not the true cause. The accident was only conditioned by their conceitedness. The accident was caused by a natural disaster. And we could not control it. This should be the lesson we must learn from this tragedy. Elimination of or independence from any nuclear power generation essentially follows this lesson.