NYT: Bid to 'Protect Assets' Slowed Reactor Fight (shit meet fan redux)

[jannyk]

TOKYO—Crucial efforts to tame Japan's crippled nuclear plant were delayed by concerns over damaging valuable power assets and by initial passivity on the part of the government, people familiar with the situation said, offering new insight into the management of the crisis.

Meanwhile, a regulator who was inspecting the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power complex when the quake hit offered The Wall Street Journal one of the first eyewitness accounts of the havoc at the site, describing how the temblor took down all communications in the area, greatly complicating the response.

The plant's operator—Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco—considered using seawater from the nearby coast to cool one of its six reactors at least as early as last Saturday morning, the day after the quake struck. But it didn't do so until that evening, after the prime minister ordered it following an explosion at the facility. Tepco didn't begin using seawater at other reactors until Sunday.

Tepco "hesitated because it tried to protect its assets," said Akira Omoto, a former Tepco executive and a member of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission, an official advisory body involved in the effort to tame the plant. Both Tepco and government officials had good reason not to use saltwater, Mr. Omoto added. Early on, nuclear fuel rods were still under cooling water and undamaged, he said, adding, "it's understandable because injecting seawater into the fuel vessel renders it unusable."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704608504576207912642629904.html

GO READ THIS! It will make your blood boil!!!

[jannyk]

1. Don't Forget to Vote in the Poll on Nuclear Power (on left - toward bottom)

[KeepItReal]

2. Of course TEPCO delayed using seawater as a coolant and the govt. hesitated to step in

The Corporation had to be allowed to make the decisions to try and save their bottom line.

Just like the BP oil spill here.

:banghead:

[jannyk]

3. And then the National Guard stood outside waiting to be asked in?

Cock-Up of Mega proportions all around!
:shrug:

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. "This disaster is 60% man-made,"

Love this analogy to "penny wise and pound foolish":

"They failed in their initial response. It's like Tepco dropped and lost a 100 yen coin while trying to pick up a 10 yen coin."

[xchrom]

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