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Japan's Nuclear Calamity Compounded by History of Neglecting Safety, Downplaying Accidents

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A cable from October 27, 2008, echoes the charge that Japan's government has been neglecting the safety of its nuclear reactors. Lower House Diet Member Taro Kono criticized Japanese ministries, particularly the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) saying they were "trapped in their policies, as officials inherited policies from people more senior to them, which they could then not challenge." For example, following the Chernobyl incident, Kono said "Japanese radiation standards for imported food had been set" but "had not changed since then, despite other nations having reduced their levels of allowable radiation."

Furthermore, Kono claimed METI was covering up nuclear accidents and obscuring costs and problems being created by then nuclear industry:

He claimed MPs have a difficult time hearing the whole of the U.S. message on nuclear energy because METI picks and chooses those portions of the message that it likes. Only information in agreement with METI policies is passed through to the MPs. Elaborating on his frustrations with the ministries, Kono noted that the Diet committee staffs are made up of professional bureaucrats, and are often headed by detailees from the ministries. He said he had no authority to hire or fire committee staff, and that any inquiries he made to them quickly found their way back to the ministries.

When considering that charge, it is no surprise that BBC reported years ago, "A pervasive culture of secrecy that is commonplace in corporate Japan, and traditional hostility to whistleblowers, make it hard for the industry to change." It seems like it was going to take a disaster of this magnitude to shock Japan into changing or maybe an international diplomatic crisis brought on by WikiLeaks to alter how the industry functioned in Japan.

In another report, the BBC expounded on accidents & secrecy in Japan. Satoshi Fujino, public relations officer at the Citizens' Nuclear Information Centre in Tokyo, mentions an "extremely lax" safety appraisal process and "very haphazard" inspections carried out after the process all make the industry prone to accidents.

Kono, in the cable, also raised the issue of "nuclear waste." He suggested Japan had "no permanent high-level waste storage, and thus no solution to the problem of storage," and, citing "Japan's extensive seismic activity, and abundant groundwater," asked "if there really was a safe place to store nuclear waste in the "land of volcanoes.'" [And, it's interesting that Kono expressed surprise that there is pushback in the US on storing waste at Yucca Mountain. Kono believed Japan needed such a facility to store waste and stop the process of "reprocessing" or recycling nuclear waste.]

Finally, a cable , from 2008, shows the IAEA was aware of the inner workings of Japan's nuclear industry and how it was handling safety:

"On earthquakes and nuclear safety, the IAEA presenter noted the Agency has officials in Japan to learn from Japan's recent experience dealing with earthquakes and described several areas of IAEA focus. First, he explained that safety guides for seismic safety have only been revised three times in the last 35 years and that the IAEA is now reexamining them. Also, the presenter noted recent earthquakes in some cases have exceeded the design basis for some nuclear plants, and that this a serious problem that is now driving seismic safety work. The IAEA is issuing a new guide on seismic evaluation to accompany existing guidelines on seismic hazard and design. Finally, the IAEA noted it had launched an International Seismic Safety Center at its September general conference to enhance safety, develop standards, pool and share knowledge."

Fault lines have been discovered and the likelihood of seismic activity appears to have increased in the past decades. But, as the cables prove (and as news has previously reported), Japan has taken the path of least resistance, continuing to expand its nuclear industry instead of seriously considering alternative energies that would not compound a disastrous tsunami or earthquake.

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Kevin Gosztola is managing editor of Shadowproof Press. He also produces and co-hosts the weekly podcast, "Unauthorized Disclosure." He was an editor for OpEdNews.com
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