The Japanese parliamentary panel said the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe last year was a ‘ man-made disaster ‘ and not only due to the tsunami.

According to the final report the Fukushima nuclear disaster was the result of a ‘ man-made ‘ factors including regulators who failed to provide appropriate prevention and a government lacking obligation to protect the public, said a report from an independent parliamentary investigation.

Kiyoshi Kurokawa – emeritus professor of Tokyo University, wrote in the report that the accident could not be regarded as a natural disaster. ‘ It was a profoundly manmade disaster — that could and should have been foreseen and prevented. And its effects could have been mitigated by a more effective human response ‘.

The report catalogued serious deficiencies in both the government and plant operator Tepco’s response. It also blamed cultural conventions and a reluctance to question authority.

Investigation rules in Fukushima nuclear disaster case in progress

The 6-month irrespective investigation, the first of its kind with wide-ranging subpoena powers in Japan’s constitutional history, held public hearings with former Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Tokyo Electric Power ex-president Masataka Shimizu, who gave conflicting accounts of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe response.

The six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was badly damaged after the earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems to reactors, leading to meltdowns and the release of radioactivity.

Hundreds of thousands of residents were evacuated from an exclusion zone around the plant as workers battled to bring reactors under control.

Japanese parliamentary panel reports : Fukushima nuclear disaster was ‘ man-made ‘

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was badly damaged after the earthquake and tsunami struck. But The Japanese parliamentary panel says it was also a human fault.

After the tsunami, all of Japan’s working reactors were gradually taken offline for maintenance or safety checks. The country had been without nuclear power for 2 months. Despite rising public opposition to restarts because of the Fukushima crisis, government officials and the utility that runs the Ohi plant has told the reactor has passed stringent safety checks. They argue its output is needed to ward off blackouts as Japan enters its high-demand summer months.

The official commission’s report also said the Fukushima situation was worsened by government mismanagement, while adding that the utility known as Tepco could not use the government as a scapegoat as its own information disclosure through the disaster was lacking.

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