Fukushima - a tale of incompetence and bureaucratic inefficiency at its worst

You have to read this article up on EXSKF: #Fukushima Reactor 3 Explosion, Reactor 2 Core Melt, Possibly Because TEPCO Couldn't Break the Rules to Bring Batteries to the Plant

To summarize it in brief: on March 13th when it was obvious that the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plants was getting worse and worse, they tried to vent but realized they needed car batteries to get the job done. This is 28 hours before the first explosion.

At first they scrounged batteries from workers' cars, then drove to Iwaki and brought some back from a hardware store. Local officials at the plant pleaded with their bosses in Tokyo because they didn't have enough money to buyt more batteries.

They tried to ship out a truck loaded with batteries but had to wait to get a permit to transport the load on the highway. But waiting for red tape to clear meant they didn't get the shipment to the plant until the evening of the 14th, long after explosions had happened and the shit had hit the fans.

As the writer on EXSKF states, there were many things Tepco or the Japanese government could've done to get batteries there: force the issue and let the truck leave, call local cops in Iwaki and have them go on a battery scavenging spree, as the US for help. Anything. It still may have not stopped the meltdowns or explosions, but it would've at least been something, and may have reduced in some way the vast amount of radiation released into the air.

I am reminded of a scene from Gamera III, the first Japanese monster movie I saw on the big screen in Japan (and what is considered by many to be the best kaiju film ever). Iris and Gamera battle it out in a Japanese city (Kyoto I believe), and while the two giant monsters blast bolts at each other the scene shifts to the Japanese Diet, which is debating whether to send in forces to help out. By the time they decide to do anything the beautiful city is a burnt-out ruin.

That, of course was a movie, however, and the events of March 2011 were sadly real. While idiots in charge debated about how to get out batteries a trio of nuclear reactors was melting down. Explosions followed, and those (plus gas venting) spread radiation throughout the area. There have been (as of yet) no confirmed deaths due to the radiation but hundreds of those who evacuated have since passed away, some of whom died en route to evacuation centers, more still over the months spent in shelters with little to no access to medical care.

If you want to read more there's a shocking article up at the Asia Pacific Journal about crime, suicide and conditions in Fukushima.