( PDF format )
The following is mirrored from its source at: http://rebuildjpn.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/press-en_20120227.pdf with additional text from summary of the Final Chapter of the Report. The page the above link is on is at: http://rebuildjpn.org/news/1071?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
The English translation of the Report will be published in summer 2012. In the meantime, please refer to the summary of the Final Chapter of the Report, which is a contributed journal article to Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by SAGE, titled “Fukushima in review: A complex disaster, a disastrous response,” by Yoichi Funabashi and Kay Kitazawa
Abstract
On March 11, 2011, an earthquake and tsunami crippled the
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The emerging crisis
at the plant was complex, and, to make matters worse, it was
exacerbated by communication gaps between the government
and the nuclear industry. An independent investigation panel,
established by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation,
reviewed how the government, the Tokyo Electric Power Company
(Tepco), and other relevant actors responded. In this article, the
panel’s program director writes about their findings and
how these players were thoroughly unprepared on almost
every level for the cascading nuclear disaster.This lack of
preparation was caused, in part, by a public myth of
“absolute safety” that nuclear power proponents
had nurtured over decades and was aggravated by dysfunction
within and between government agencies and Tepco, particularly
in regard to political leadership and crisis management. The
investigation also found that the tsunami that began the nuclear
disaster could and should have been anticipated and that
ambiguity about the roles of public and private institutions
in such a crisis was a factor in the poor response at
Fukushima.
The article is freely available to public at SAGE’s website. http://bos.sagepub.com/content/early/2012/02/29/0096340212440359.full.pdf+html
Investigation on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident
Handout for the News Conference
at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan
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11F Ark Hills Front Tower RoP 2-23-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0052, Japan Tel: 03-5545-6733 Fax: 03-5545-6744 Email: info@rebuildjpn.org Web: http://rebuildjpn.org/ March 1, 2012
The Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Nuclear Accident, established in September 2011 by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation, has since been delving into the causes of the nuclear accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and the failure to contain its damage from an independent, private-sector perspective. The Commission announces its 420-page Report after six months of thoroughgoing research and analysis. Unlike the reports issued by the governmental and Diet panels, the Commission’s findings are truly independent, unfettered by concerns for existing organizations and frameworks. The Commission summarized its findings and recommendations in the Report with the hope that the lessons of Fukushima accident would be shared broadly throughout Japanese public, including those directly affected by the disaster, as well as people around the world. The English edition is scheduled to be published in summer 2012. ORGANIZATION The Commission consists of six highly knowledgeable Commissioners with technological, legal, and energy expertise as well as active concern about the accident (see list below). It is chaired by University of Tokyo Professor Emeritus Koichi Kitazawa, an eminent scientist who until September 2011 was president of the Japan Science and Technology Agency.
The six Commissioners provided guidance and supervision to the Working Group comprising approximately 30 university and think-tank researchers, lawyers, and freelance journalists who carried out the necessary research and verification activities for the drafting of the Report. Areas of expertise of the Working Group members range broadly from nuclear engineering and political science to international relations and crisis management. Please refer to the last page of the Report for member profiles. METHODOLOGY Hearings were conducted of officials involved in the accident in an attempt to create an oral history. Their testimonies were analyzed through a framework of proximate, intermediary, and remote causes. Government leaders at the time of the accident were invited as guests to Working Group meetings for interviews lasting two to three hours. Roundtable interviews on specific topics were also held with government officials and experts. A short list of major interviewees (excluding those asking for anonymity) is as follows. In addition to those on the list, many others offered background explanations through unofficial hearings. In all, interviews were conducted with approximately 300 people. The Commission on multiple occasions contacted TEPCO seeking hearings from managers and disclosures of information, but the requests were turned down. For this reason, information about TEPCO is based on hearings conducted with retired TEPCO officials and through unofficial meetings. MAJOR INTERVIEWEES (and date conducted)
CONTENTS A detailed testimony by one of the workers at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is the prologue of the Report. It describes what the worker saw and experienced during the first hours after the plant had been stricken by the earthquakes and tsunami. The main text consists of four parts:
The major issues discussed at length in the Report are as follows:
The Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation (RJIF) was launched in September 2011 with funding from private-sector companies that endorsed our aim of establishing a politically neutral, not-for-profit public interest organization. RJIF’s mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and to provide innovative and practical recommendations toward the reconstruction of the Japanese socio-economic system. In and beyond this, RJIF was conceived as a worldwide networking hub and incubator of ideas among opinion leaders, relevant organizations, and media outlets.
Yoichi Funabashi
Program Director, Independent Investigation Commission on the
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident
Chairman, Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation
Copyright © 2012 Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation
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