– Fukushima plant “great risk”: head of nuclear accident probe panel (Kyodo News, July 7, 2012):
TOKYO – The head of a Diet-appointed panel to investigate the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster said Friday that the crippled plant in northeastern Japan remains in a dangerous situation because of its fragile structure.
“Fukushima remains at a very high risk, not only because of the spent fuel issues, but also because of its fragile structure,” Kiyoshi Kurokawa, also professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, told a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, noting that another huge earthquake like the one last year may occur off the coast of northeastern Japan again.
The panel compiled a report Thursday that the Fukushima complex was “incapable of withstanding the earthquake and tsunami” that hit the plant on March 11, 2011. It also noted there is a possibility that the quake damaged safety equipment before the tsunami ravaged the plant and inundated power-supplying facilities needed to keep the nuclear reactors cool.