DiaNuke.org

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday it had failed in an attempt to create an ice wall in an underground tunnel to block the flow of highly radioactive water from a damaged reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station.

$1bn lawsuit accuses Tepco of failing to avoid the accident and of lying about radiation levels that have caused health problems to themselves and their families stationed in Japan.

The Asahi Shimbun has recently obtained a copy of the transcripts of testimony given before a government investigation panel by Masao Yoshida, who served as general manager of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant when it succumbed to a Level 7 disaster, the highest on the International Nuclear Events Scale, following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011.

The document remains the only available official transcript of the testimony by Yoshida, the on-site commander of efforts to bring the situation under control, who died in July 2013 without having disclosed much to media organizations about the accident at the plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.

TEPCO’s dilemma should make one thing painfully obvious, though mainstream political ideology cannot acknowledge it: this is not a job for capitalism. TEPCO should be abolished, and all of its assets and obligations should be assumed by the state. Soviet historians speak of the Battle of Chernobyl because it was a war against technology that required national sacrifice. Japan and the international community should have long ago realized that the Battle of Fukushima cannot be fought, let alone won, by a bankrupt corporation hiring casual workers through layers of subcontractors. A massive national effort is called for, but no one in charge seems capable of recognizing the need.