TEPCO Needs to Face Reality of Core Meltdowns

In the course of two months, several hydrogen blasts, fires, high core temperatures, and continuous release of high amount of radiation elements into the air, sea and environment, TEPCO had no idea that the Fukushima reactors had suffered core meltdowns until the retrieved data confirmed that they did a few days ago?

Hard to believe when international nuclear experts had repeatedly said so during the early days of the nuclear disaster. Nevertheless, turning a deaf ear to the warning echoes around the world, TEPCO managers have been pouring their futile efforts, precious time and tons of money in fixing a growing series of problems of which they created to stabilize a losing battle against nuclear core meltdown - not one but three meltdowns!!!

Gross mismanagement or delusional TEPCO?

Not surprisingly, inept TEPCO management is trying to blame the earthquake and tsunami for its failures.

TEPCO's analysis report states that the meltdowns at reactors #1-3 occurred from within a day to four days.

So far, TEPCO released data from reactor #3 claiming that the March 11 earthquake, not the tsunami, was the cause of damaged piping for the emergency core cooling system. However, another cooling equipment powered by steam worked fine until it was suspended by TEPCO operators on March 13 which led to a core meltdown. Furthermore, no damage to key pipes caused by the earthquake has been confirmed.

TEPCO operators manually shut down the emergency cooling system (isolation condenser) for reactor #1 on March 11, after the earthquake but they supposedly turned it back on before the tsunami hit the plant. Although reactors #1-3 lost all external power due to the tsunami, emergency power sources were still in working order. TEPCO needs to explain why the emergency cooling system stopped working completely right after the tsunami.

To think the welfare of the state, the local Japanese and the world environment has been entrusted in the hands of the delusional TEPCO management team that has been acting in total denial of reality.

Even now, the revised plan to decommission reactors nos. #1-4 to a state of "cold shutdown" is ignoring the fact that the other two operational reactors #5 and #6 will be in a "dead zone" for years to come. Why not decommission ALL the nuclear reactors at the site?

Furthermore, the plan did not address the salt level in the radioactive water that might have corroded some of the containment components.

Moreover, TEPCO never alluded to the possibility that radioactive groundwater could also have traveled inland, not just leaking out to sea in May and April. After all, radioactive cesium was found in sewage sludge outside of the Fukushima nuclear plant site.

The fact that the radiation leaks are not only ongoing but also new ones appear one after another since the core meltdowns, isn't it time for TEPCO to face reality by entombing all the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daichi Plant once and for all?