Japan Nuclear Power Plant Scandal and Now Coverup?

SHOCKING UPDATE BELOW


In a bit of news concerning my most recent blog entry about Japanese government responsibility for the nuclear accident at Fukushima (read that blog here), it has now been reported in the German press that the plant at Fukushima was allegedly scheduled for shut-down this month.


This is the second nuclear accident at this plant in 29 years.

Brief comment from What Really Happened:

In the Japanese Fukushima nuclear power plant, an explosion occurred. The fear of a worst-case scenario is there. What kind of nuclear power plant? Who owns it? It is a company that wanted to cover up several affairs. The complex of the Fukushima nuclear power plant is one of the largest in Japan. The power plant consists of a total of six reactors, Two more are planned. The Fukushima nuclear power plant 1, which was seriously damaged in the earthquake is 40 years old. The problem reactor was about to be closed down according to a database of the Nuclear Research Centre Training Centre (ICJT) in Slovenia. It shows as the "expected date of closure," March 2011. 

Well, I can answer the question as to "who owns this power plant?" It is TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company). Read about the previous shut-downs and scandals here at Wikipedia. Here is also a short list of accidents so far in Japan. TEPCO is in very tight with the Japanese government and owns a virtual monopoly on electrical power in Japan.


Here is the information in German about the alleged planned closure:

Original text from Sueddeutsche: 
Der Problemreaktor stand nach Angaben aus einer internationalen AKW-Datenbank kurz vor der Stilllegung. Der Reaktor 1 des Meilers Fukushima Eins sollte in diesem Monat den Betrieb einstellen; eine Datenbank des Forschungszentrums Nuclear Training Centre (ICJT) in Slowenien nennt als "erwartetes Datum der Stilllegung" den März 2011. Der Bau des Reaktorblocks begann nach Angaben der World Nuclear Association bereits am 31. Juli 1967, die Leitung der Arbeiten lag beim US-Konzern General Electric. Am 17. November 1970 ging der Siedewasserreaktor ans Netz.

Babelfish translation: 

The problem reactor stood according to data from an international nuclear power plant data base shortly before the shutdown. The reactor 1 of the Meilers Fukushima unity should stop the enterprise in this month; a data base of the research center Nuclear training Centre (ICJT) in Slovenia calls as " expected date of the Stilllegung" March 2011. The building of the reactor block began the line of the work according to data of the World Nuclear Association already on 31 July 1967, lay with the US group General Electric. On 17 November 1970 the boiling water reactor went to the net.

There's a scandal in there not too far from the surface here, 
especially concerning government announcements that things 
were safe and under control when they obviously weren't. 


Heads must roll.


UPDATE:


THIS JUST IN: "The Daiichi site is located in Onahama city, about 170 miles (270 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. The 460-megawatt Unit 1 began operating in 1971 and is the oldest at the site. It is a boiling water reactor that drives the turbine with radioactive water, unlike pressurized water reactors usually found in the United States. Japanese regulators decided in February to allow it to run another 10 years."

I wonder if Tokyo Electric Power Co. would request a plant closure postponement if it were to be directly liable for any accident...