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Ear to the Ground

Japan’s Prime Minister Politely Drop-Kicks Nuclear Plant Owner

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Posted on Mar 29, 2011
AP / DigitalGlobe/dapd

Lest anyone doubt who is responsible for the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan just discarded the uncritical routine and said plant owner TEPCO’s low standards “invited the current situation.”  —PZS

Los Angeles Times:

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan for the first time criticized the TEPCO, which owns the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, for inadequate preparations for a tsunami at the facility. The sea wall at the plant was designed to withstand an 18-foot wave, while the actual tsunami that struck after the magnitude 9 Tohoku earthquake was estimated to be more than 40 feet high.

“It’s undeniable their assumptions about tsunamis were greatly mistaken,” Kan said Tuesday of Tokyo Electric Power Co. in an address to the Japanese parliament. “The fact that their standards were too low invited the current situation.”

Kan also criticized the company for placing the backup diesel generators, which were to provide power to the emergency cooling system, in the basements of reactor buildings, where they were swamped by seawater and disabled.

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By morristhewise, March 30, 2011 at 10:36 pm Link to this comment

Radiation from the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant would be tragically dangerous if
mens briefs were contaminated.  It would effect the rapidly dividing cells that
produce sperm, and decrease the wearers sperm count dramatically. In some
instances those cells will not recover, but in most cases they will return to normal
in two years. But only if the wearer changes his contaminated briefs shortly after
exposure.

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Anarcissie's avatar

By Anarcissie, March 30, 2011 at 12:52 pm Link to this comment

The time to criticize TEPCO was before the plant blew up.

The time to get rid of the nuclear plant in your vicinity is now, before it blows up.

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By TDoff, March 30, 2011 at 11:30 am Link to this comment

The good news, as of Wednesday morning, is that Japan has decided to scrap it’s FUKU..ed-up nuclear reactors.

The bad news is they have sold, and are going to ship, the scrap to a chap named Osama.

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By Miko, March 30, 2011 at 9:14 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Yeah, and no doubt the plant owner will respond by
blaming the prime minister.  He-said/she-said is only
considered to be evidence by those who’ve already made
up their minds.

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By tweed jackets, March 30, 2011 at 2:39 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I like Japan.

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By TDoff, March 29, 2011 at 11:58 pm Link to this comment

The Japanese Prime Minister later made a minor correction to his statement that ‘As a result of our recent tests, we find it necessary to extend the nuclear evacuation zone around the plant. Er, excuse me, I’m afraid an ‘e’ in missing on the teleprompter. This should read ‘we find it necessary to extend the nuclear evacuation zone around the PLANET’.

OK, Earthlings, as the old saying goes, ‘Bend over, grab your socks, and kiss your a** goodbye’.

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By old nj guy, March 29, 2011 at 11:06 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Did they really admit to putting the backup generators in the basement??  Is that totally retarded, or what?

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By Glen Wayne, March 29, 2011 at 9:50 pm Link to this comment

GE Wiz   empirePie     March 29h, 2011

And so this is progress
The American dream
Like nuclear power
It’s really clean

GE wiz clean, for life on lite
Bringing the reaper to life
Plus guidance systems for strife

Our plow shares are glowing
We reaped what we sowed
Like nuclear terror
The bully is on hold

And so this is progress
The American dream
The rule of the market
The bottom line team

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PatrickHenry's avatar

By PatrickHenry, March 29, 2011 at 8:02 pm Link to this comment

Seize all their assets, shareholders be damned.

In for a penny, in for a pound.

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Queenie's avatar

By Queenie, March 29, 2011 at 6:44 pm Link to this comment

And someone PLEASE lay some blame on G.E. Wasn’t this their design? Or are they like B.P. and will escape with a wrist slap, if that.

These global corporations are killing us!

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By AlexNYC, March 29, 2011 at 6:00 pm Link to this comment

At least someone in government finally said something critical about TEPCO poor planing for contingency situations. Should distater planning also include worst-case scenarios, instead of always best-case scenarios, especially when a nuclear disaster can be so devastating?

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By P.W. Walker, March 29, 2011 at 5:37 pm Link to this comment

File that under the “No Sh*t Sherlock” portion of the filing cabinet.

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