Worst Scenario' On Fukushima
Crisis Shared Only By A Few Lawmakers
Fukushima Nuclear Plant
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TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Nuclear disaster minister Goshi Hosono has
said "the worst scenario" on development of the nuclear
crisis at the Fukushima complex, which was compiled two
weeks after the crisis began, was shared only by a few
lawmakers, including then Prime Minister Naoto Kan, due to
fears it might cause confusion among the public.
"The scenario was not a possibility in fact. If it had been
made public at that time, it was likely that no one would
have remained in Tokyo," Hosono told Kyodo News in a recent
interview. "It would have caused trouble regarding the
government's handling of the nuclear crisis."
The government predicted in the worst scenario, produced on
March 25 by Japan Atomic Energy Commission Chairman Shunsuke
Kondo, that the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi power
plant would explode and the No. 4 unit's spent fuel pool
would dry up, bringing about a more extensive release of
radioactive material.
The scenario was examined by only a few key lawmakers in the
government and was not shared even with the Nuclear Safety
Commission "as we wanted to prevent gossip from spreading,"
Hosono said. "We could not even announce the fact that we
compiled such a simulation."
Hosono, who was serving as a special adviser to Kan,
recommended to the premier "to be prepared for the worst
possible scenario, just in case" about 10 days after the
nuclear crisis began following the March 11 earthquake and
tsunami, as the Fukushima complex retained a "certain
stability," according to Hosono.
Kan then ordered Kondo to compile the scenario.
While several government officials said the scenario was
initially considered "a private document," Hosono countered
by saying, "Documents compiled by us in an official capacity
cannot be considered private. We were ready to disclose it
(the scenario) if we received a freedom-of-information
request."
The scenario, meanwhile, prompted the government to brace
for unforeseen trouble, Hosono said. For example, the
government introduced nine concrete pumping vehicles at the
No. 4 reactor so it would not dry up while enhancing the
reactor pool, he added.
"It was not wrong to prepare for the worst cases, based on
the scenario," he said.
(Mainichi Japan) January 30, 2012
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