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.

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Japan engineers knew tsunami could overrun plant