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    And Now For Something Completely Different
    By Gerhard Adam | July 6th 2012 03:54 PM | 2 comments | Print | E-mail | Track Comments
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    Given all the Higgsmania, I thought it appropriate to draw attention to another topic on which much energy [excuse the pun] had been spent previously; Fukushima.  The English version of the accident report by the appointed commission (NAIIC) has been released and unfortunately its conclusions were all too expected.

    This is another glaring example of how science can be so readily subverted by those that would implement technologies for their own profit or gain.  It has become almost a cliche to consider that virtually every technology that has some element of danger, requiring prudence in its deployment is treated in a cavalier fashion.  Public safety is invariably compromised, while those whose responsibility it is, simply become wealthier and wealthier, and when problems occur they simply vanish into the background.

    So, here's the link to the report and an article summarizing the report. 

    http://naiic.go.jp/en/

    http://naiic.go.jp/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/NAIIC_report_lo_res2.pdf

    http://arstechnica.com/science/2012/07/fukushima-a-disaster-made-in-japan/

    Comments

    Stellare
    Thanks for the links, Gerhard!

    The report from the disaster in Japan only once again underlines the need of a transdisciplinary approach to disaster management. The social structure, the transfer of knowledge from science to operations, basically everything is connected.

    In Japan of all places, they placed an expert scientist in a place with no mobile coverage. In Japan, the high-tech country number one in the world! Just fascinating. The human factor always overrules any technological capacity we migth have.
    —
    Bente Lilja Bye is the author of Lilja - A bouquet of stories about the Earth
    Bente Lilja Bye | 07/07/12 | 07:31 AM
    UvaE
    What's described in the report is so symptomatic of many institutions. Misplaced priorities frustrate conscientious workers, but as long as nothing major goes wrong, nothing changes.


    The Japan case became part of the spotlight because their policies turned into a disaster, but what I've italicized in a couple of quotes from the report still go on in the rest of the world, in and out of the nuclear industry.


    As the nuclear power business became less profitable over the years, TEPCO’s management began to put more emphasis on cost cutting and increasing Japan’s reliance on nuclear power. While giving lip service to a policy of “safety first,” in actuality, safety suffered at the expense of other management priorities. An emblematic example is the fact that TEPCO did not have the proper diagrams of piping and other instruments at the Daiichi plant.The absence of the proper diagrams was one of the factors that led to a delay in venting at a crucial time during the accident.

    With such a powerful mandate, nuclear power became an unstoppable force, immune to
    scrutiny by civil society. Its regulation was entrusted to the same government bureaucracy responsible for its promotion.


    Enrico Uva | 07/07/12 | 07:48 AM