Kan: I couldn't let TEPCO withdraw from Fukushima disaster

[kristopher]

Kan: I couldn't let TEPCO withdraw from Fukushima disaster

Naoto Kan was told by his industry minister at 3 a.m., four days after the start of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, that the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., was proposing to withdraw from the stricken facility.

In his first interview since leaving office, the former prime minister told The Asahi Shimbun on Sept. 5 that he had briefly stared into an abyss in which the plant's damaged nuclear reactors might have been abandoned.

"I thought, 'What would happen if (TEPCO) withdrew?' If we left the plant unattended, everything might have melted down and things might have gone far beyond Chernobyl," Kan said.

"The word 'withdrawal' was not in my mind. The important thing was how we could, at all costs, bring the situation under control," Kan said.

The telephone call from...

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201109060244.html

[Fumesucker]

1. And yet at four days after the earthquake the plant was still emitting only puppies and rainbows..

If you had listened to what TEPCO was saying publicly.

Privately on the other hand they were about to let it go China syndrome.

Seppuku, It's not just for Samurai any more.

:shrug:

[DCKit]

2. You forgot the unicorns. Don't EVER forget the unicorns. nt

[madokie]

3. Will this one ever be brought under control?

For some reason I doubt that it will. Might have something to do with the fact that I've been paying attention to the nuclear industry since day one and they've never been forthright with us about anything. Lie when the truth would sound better.

rec 5

[FBaggins]

4. I guess that depends on how you define "under control"

and whether your understandable reluctance to believe anything they say grants you license to imagine the worst case and just believe that instead.

k&r

[SpoonFed]

5. Okay as long as...

"they" includes you.

So that your statement would now read...
"understandable reluctance to believe anything they or FBaggins says"

Also, I define TEPCOs meaning of "under control" to be that PR and spin control have taken their catastrophe out of the global spotlight.

[FBaggins]

6. You can define it however you like

You've already shown that reality has no impact on your opinions. Why let it in now? :)

[kristopher]

7. That definition you've offered has a lot of validity

It is certainly a front and center goal they've pursued from minute 1.