Article
- +1
Toby Dalton, Mark Hibbs, Nicole Grajewski, …
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Source: Getty
In The Media
The Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP: The World Ponders
A lack of preparation, defenses and confusion about who held responsibility contributed to the seriousness of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
By Mark Hibbs
Published on Mar 23, 2012
Source: NHK
"The bottom line is that TEPCO was basically unprepared for this accident," added Hibbs. "There was unnecessary debate in Japan and elsewhere about whether the event was level five or level seven, but the event scale was designed as a public relations tool to show the world that most of these events are level zero; anything above level two means that a nuclear reactor is in big trouble."
Furthermore, said Hibbs, there was no understanding between the government and TEPCO about who was actually responsible for managing the accident. "In Japan there was a micromanagement of the events on the ground from Tokyo and it led to a lot of wasted time," he argued.
About the Author
Mark Hibbs
Nonresident Senior Fellow, Nuclear Policy Program
Hibbs is a Germany-based nonresident senior fellow in Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program. His areas of expertise are nuclear verification and safeguards, multilateral nuclear trade policy, international nuclear cooperation, and nonproliferation arrangements.
- Dimming Prospects for U.S.-Russia Nonproliferation Cooperation
- What Comes After Russia’s Attack on a Ukrainian Nuclear Power Station?Commentary
Mark Hibbs
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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