Document shows TEPCO recognized risk of huge tsunami at Fukushima plant in 2008

[Disir]

Tokyo Electric Power Co. in 2008 recognized the “indispensable” need for countermeasures against a towering tsunami at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, but it ended up doing nothing, an internal document showed.

The document was disclosed on June 18 by TEPCO, operator of the Fukushima plant, at the request of its shareholders who have filed a lawsuit against the utility's executives. The plaintiffs are demanding that company executives be held responsible for the nuclear crisis at the plant that was triggered by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

“It is indispensable for us to develop measures against a higher tsunami than currently estimated,” the document says.

The plaintiffs argue that the document proves that TEPCO executives at the time could foresee the possibility of a huge tsunami striking the nuclear plant. They say the utility in 2008 estimated a 15.7-meter tsunami could hit the plant based on earthquake predictions by a governmental organization.

But TEPCO said its 2008 estimate could not be “a factor that inevitably forced them to take concrete countermeasures because there were differences of opinion, even among experts, on how to estimate a quake.”
Document shows TEPCO recognized risk of huge tsunami at Fukushima plant in 2008 - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun

This lawsuit is from the shareholders.

Here is another article from Japan Times.
Document shows Tepco was aware of need for tsunami measures in 2008 lawyers The Japan Times

 

[waltky]

Fukushima still haunts Japanese population...

Fukushima radiation hits home as thyroid cancer rises among children
Oct. 8, 2015 - Thyroid cancer rates were about 20 to 50 times the national average, according to the analysis.

Fukushima radiation has been linked to a surge in thyroid cancer among children near the disaster area, and radiation woes have reach South Korea, where findings revealed imported tobacco from Japan contained higher than normal levels of radioactive cesium. A team of Japanese researchers led by Toshihide Tsuda, a professor of environmental epidemiology at Okayama University, said cases of thyroid cancer in Fukushima Prefecture have skyrocketed since March 2011, Kyodo News reported. The rates were about 20 to 50 times the national average, according to the analysis. The findings were based on screenings of 370,000 Fukushima residents age 18 or younger, and the culprit was increased radiation exposure since the Fukushima nuclear disaster hit the area in March 2011. In late August, the prefecture had identified 104 cases of thyroid cancer.

Japanese police wearing chemical protection suits search for victims near the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Minamisoma, Fukushima prefecture, Japan, on April 15, 2011. A team of Japanese researchers led by Toshihide Tsuda, a professor of environmental epidemiology at Okayama University, said cases of thyroid cancer in Fukushima Prefecture have skyrocketed since March 2011.​

Some epidemiologists like Shoichiro Tsugane of the National Cancer Center disputed the findings and said it is too early to say whether the results are conclusive. "Unless radiation exposure data are checked, any specific relationship between a cancer incidence and radiation cannot be identified," said Tsugane, adding there is a trend of over-diagnosing thyroid cancer. Japan's nuclear radiation woes have reached neighboring South Korea, and government officials in Seoul have begun to raise concerns about radioactive cesium in imported tobacco. South Korean outlet Newsis reported Thursday.

After a parliamentary audit, South Korean opposition party lawmaker In Jae-keun said 20,271 tons of imported Japanese tobacco imported from seven prefectures, including Fukushima, contained the radioactive isotope. In 421 tests of native and burley leaf tobacco, 68 percent tested positive for cesium. The revelation is a public health concern, according to Newsis, because South Korea does not check Japanese tobacco for radiation and has only conducted tar and nicotine tests on the products.

Fukushima radiation hits home as thyroid cancer rises among children