WikiLeaks: Cables Show Japan Was Warned About Nuclear Plant Safety

So it begins... Is there ever a time, when a large-scale disaster has not been shown later, that it could have been made less, by following safety recommendations? Again and again and again, we see safety taking a second seat to budget and/or profit. When the costs are cut and the rules/regulations and standards are minimized, who pays? We all do.

The Japanese government has said it is doing all it can to contain the crisis at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which was critically damaged in last week's earthquake. But according to U.S. diplomatic papers released by WikiLeaks, that atomic disaster might have been avoided if only the government had acted on earlier safety warnings.

An unnamed official from the International Atomic Energy Agency is quoted in a 2008 cable from the American embassy in Tokyo as saying that a strong earthquake would pose a "serious problem" for Japan's nuclear power stations. The official added that the country's nuclear safety guidelines were dangerously out of date, as they had only been "revised three times in the last 35 years."

Following that warning, Japan's government pledged to raise security at all of its nuclear facilities, reports The Daily Telegraph, which published the cable. But questions are now being asked about whether authorities really took the nuclear watchdog's worries seriously. [Link]

Will we ever learn?

I'm going to be lazy and not post the link, but there's a report in the Australian ABC news service showing that Japan officials had covered up something like 30 radiation leaks. Nothing serious but a serious indictment on their safety record.

TEPCO does not have a stirling reptution. Will not surprise me to find more issues, once there is time to reflect.

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