By Kevin Krolicki and Chisa Fujioka FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - A decade and a half before it blew apart in a hydrogen blast that punctuated the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, the No.
Read More »Tag Archives: kevin-krolicki
Feed SubscriptionRadiation "Hotspots" Hinder Japan Response to Nuclear Crisis
By Kevin Krolicki and Kiyoshi Takenaka KANAGAWA, Japan (Reuters) - Hisao Nakamura still can't accept that his crisply cut field of deep green tea bushes south of Tokyo has been turned into a radioactive hazard by a crisis far beyond the horizon. [More]
Read More »Japanese Retirees Ready to Risk Fukushima Front Line
By Kevin Krolicki TOKYO, June 6 (Reuters) - At age 72, Yasuteru Yamada [More]
Read More »UN Report Puts Focus on Japan Nuclear Plant Flaws
By Kevin Krolicki TOKYO, June 1 (Reuters) - Less than a week after touring the [More]
Read More »Fukushima Nuclear Plant Not Built to Take Megaquake
By Mari Saito and Kevin Krolicki TOKYO, May 16 (Reuters) - The magnitude 9 earthquake that [More]
Read More »Japan engineers knew tsunami could overrun plant
(Repeats to add PDF link) * Tokyo Electric ignored own study on tsunami risk * Utility decided safety issues, not regulators * Kept vulnerable vent systems despite quake data * Tokyo Electric cited the most for safety violations By Kevin Krolicki, Scott DiSavino and Taro Fuse TOKYO, March 29 (Reuters) - Over the past two weeks, Japanese government officials and Tokyo Electric Power executives have repeatedly described the deadly combination of the most powerful quake in Japan's history and the massive tsunami that followed as "soteigai," or beyond expectations. When Tokyo Electric President Masataka Shimizu apologized to the people of Japan for the continuing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant he called the double disaster "marvels of nature that we have never experienced before." But a review of company and regulatory records shows that Japan and its largest utility repeatedly downplayed dangers and ignored warnings -- including a 2007 tsunami study from Tokyo Electric Power Co's senior safety engineer.
Read More »