Doubts deepen over TEPCO truthfulness after president's sightseeing trip uncovered

[Octafish]

Source: The Mainichi Daily News

Suspicions that Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is hiding information were heightened on May 27 with revelations that its president was not where TEPCO had said he was on the day of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

TEPCO had claimed that on March 11 its President Masataka Shimizu was on a trip to meet with Kansai-area business leaders. The Mainichi discovered, however, that Shimizu was in fact sightseeing in Nara -- a discrepancy that TEPCO now refuses to discuss.

According to sources close to the matter and the Nara Prefectural Government, Shimizu, his wife and secretary checked into a hotel in the ancient capital on March 10 for a two-night stay. The trio had planned to go watch a traditional event at Todaiji temple the next day.

On the afternoon of March 11, in his role as chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC), Shimizu went to "observe" the site of the Heijokyu Imperial Palace. The FEPC had sponsored the 2010 celebration of the 1,300th anniversary of the transfer of the Japanese Imperial seat to the palace.



Read more: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110528p2a00m0na004000c.html

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While Mr. Shimizu has since stepped down, his legacy as a busy nuclear executive lives on. Unfortunately.

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. Duh!

Who could have been taken in with all the flim-flam PR bullshit that TEPCO has been issuing? Anyone with a mind could have looked at the numbers vs the claims and KNOWN for a fact that the cores had melted and the radiation disaster is out of control way, way back at the beginning.

[Octafish]

3. The straight-out lies, spin and disinformation are the most maddening things of all.

Fukushima Dai'ichi Nuclear Power Plant, March 12, 2011



Within a few hours of the tsunami, TEPCO knew the spaghetti had hit the fan and said nothing. Certainly things were crazy at Fukushima Daiichi, but at TEPCO HQ in Tokyo, someone should have been in charge.

The least they could have done that first day was to have warned everybody who was within 50 miles of the atomic power plant: "Nuclear Disaster. Get Out Now!" That'd give people a chance to get out of harms' way, especially children.

Here it is -- 70 days later -- and we're just starting to learn the extent of the accident: three reactors in full meltdown. And a good chunk of the good people of Honshu exposed to more radiation than released at Chernobyl. What Price the Fukushima Meltdown? Comparing Chernobyl and Fukushima.

[girl gone mad]

5. Ah, but we were heavily derided for saying as much..

by those who think reading a couple of Wikipedia pages and a press release gives them expertise in a subject.

[madokie]

8. We have gone through some shit haven't we

and in many cases we're still being subjected to it.

[Hubert Flottz]

2. I hope he had a wonderful trip.

He just wants his life back too I'll bet.

Meanwhile back at Ground Zero, reality bites!

[DeSwiss]

4. They' lied from the start.....

...and continue to do so.

K&R

[StarsInHerHair]

6. they are all SO ABOVE us! they "refuse to discuss" SO MUCH! they sound

& act like royalty.

[CoffeeCat]

7. meanwhile...we in the United States are eating, breathing...

...and drinking the radioactive isotopes that are streaming into our country from their nuclear power plant.

These people just come off as ridiculously stupid to me.

How in the hell does anyone get so arrogant and dumb--and fail to communicate openly and
honestly to the world about the grave dangers that people are in--due to this situation?

I am sick to death of hearing how "proud" this culture is, or how it is so hard to admit
failure. OH bullshit!

Get off your asses, tell us the truth and quit pretending that the lies even make sense.

I am just at the end of my rope with these games. Either you have integrity or you don't. And
please don't lie, put people in danger with a lack of information--and try to convince yourself
that you're preserving some kind of honor or reputation for yourself.

Behaving that way makes you look like asinine dolts.

[madokie]

9. The people here at DU who defend them

are the ones who really pisses me off. When any one of us point out that the bullshit they're spreading is indeed bullshit we're called every name in the book. it sucks because how can you have a discussion on a subject when one side of said discussion has their heads so far up their backsides that they can't even breath let alone know what they hell is going on yet they deride us like we're some kind of dummies or something when anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows better.

[StarsInHerHair]

10. what weshould be seeing are ships from Canada, the U.S. the U.K. Denmark

Germany, etc speeding over to the Fukushima area, & using very thick lead-plating, building a large containment building that covers ALL the nuke reactors, since #5 just recently had its cooling system shut down. They should also have created thin lead-plated armor, making the workers resemble the Star Wars Stormtroopers, or Master Chief from Halo-BECAUSE DAMNED plastic DOESNT PROTECT THEM!

[defendandprotect]

11. We have always known that no private corporation can be held accountable for

any catastrophe such as this on such a grand scale --

That's why these nuclear reactors are not insurable by private companies --

That's why when asked to produce evacuation plans, it can't be done --

Only government can execute such plans and be resposnible for them.

Only governments can finance -- or guarantee financing -- for nuclear industry --

Meanwhile, since private corporations like GENERAL ELECTRIC certainly want to profit

from building these reactors, they are lobbying for financing of a new geenrtion of

nuclear reactors --

while always never being accountable for the outcome!!