BARRIERS TO COVERAGE: High hurdles blocked reporting of Fukushima nuclear accident

The Asahi Shinbun today published an article demonstrating efforts by the Japanese government and TEPCO to impede reporting on the accident at the Daiichi-Fukushima nuclear power plant after the the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Japan claims to be bastion of free speech and a free press yet there a press clubs which prevent such rights from achieving full bloom.

An article from the March 13 edition pointed to an explosion at the No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 plant as well as the possibility of a core meltdown after cooling functions were lost. The article was partly based on interviews with experts.

However, TEPCO and the central government refused to acknowledge that a core meltdown had occurred, saying that information from within the core was unavailable.

It was only in late May, more than two months after the nuclear accident, that TEPCO finally admitted to the possibility of a core meltdown based on data retrieved from the central control room at the nuclear plant.

Due to doubts about the reliability of the announcements made by TEPCO officials, Asahi reporters continued to contact current and retired TEPCO employees in the nuclear energy sector to get a better picture of the story.

What emerged from those interviews were questions about the safety design of the Fukushima No. 1 plant. That led to concerns about problems with the equipment at the plant as well as to the possibility that a lax forecast about what could occur during emergencies led to an expansion of the damage to the plant from the quake and tsunami.