The paradigm shift of nuclear power safety in Europe–away from the old American price-conscious doctrine that ignored low-chance risks, toward an approach that adopts preventive measures based on worst-case scenarios–is happening because of post-Fukushima recognition of the magnitude of consequences for populations and territories when reactors fail catastrophically. (In the words of the chairman of the Japanese government’s investigation committee on the Fukushima accident: “Whatever may happen will happen. Whatever is thought to never happen will also happen.”) This is what separates nuclear power from all other types of electricity generation. No matter how thoroughly the technology might be perfected, it can never be guaranteed fail-safe–a fundamental engineering dictum that should not be tolerable for technology that is so extremely dangerous. [Update 7/24/14: The U.S. National Academy of Sciences recommends focusing on low-probability “beyond-design-basis” events in a new report.]
Especially when humans are integral to the loop. Newly published testimony from the government investigation shows that the experienced plant manager at Fukushima Daichi, Masao Yoshida, made a faulty decision during the crisis that hastened the meltdown of the No. 1 reactor. Yoshida was unaware of how a certain emergency cooling system worked, because it was being called upon for the first time in 20 years. “At the time there was nobody present in the plant who had years of experience in IC operations, not even training or experience in IC inspections,” the committee reported, referring to the “isolation condenser” system that could have cooled the damaged core. Yoshida, who was otherwise widely hailed for his actions during the disaster, testified that he “knew almost nothing about how to control IC.” TEPCO headquarters provided no guidance. He died last year of cancer unrelated to the events.
Here is how Yoshida described the situation at Fukushima on March 14-15, 2011, to the inquiry panel: “It could be plutonium, it could be something else, but all substances amounting from the fuel are going to be released. It’s going to be a much more serious matter than the current cesium situation because all the radioactive substances are going to be released and dispersed outside. We’re imagining the collapse of eastern Japan.”
