Tokyo Electric Company (Tepco) remains at odds with the NAIIC concerning whether or not the 3/11/11 earthquake caused the blackout of unit #1. This blog totally agrees with Tepco. There is no substantive evidence of quake damage to any of the Fukushima Daiichi nukes prior to the tsunami waves hitting. NAIIC bases their unlikely claim based on a single off-shore wave gauge 1.5 kilometers from the F.Daiichi coastline which recorded the second wave passing at 3:37pm. Tepco’s operator’s records say the second wave hit the power complex at 3:37pm. NAIIC believes it is not possible the two could have happened simultaneously. NAIIC speculates the unit #1 emergency diesels were knocked out between 3:35 and 3:36pm, which would be several minutes before the 42-foot high wave hit by their estimations. This assumption has no evidentiary support. The assumption of lost diesels before the second wave hit makes NAIIC conclude the quake, not the tsunami, began the nuclear accident with unit #1.
Tepco says there is no substance to the NAIIC claim. Japan Times reports Tepco spokesman Junichi Matsumoto saying, “We did not hear that the diesel generator had stopped before the tsunami.” The F. Daiichi unit #1 control room record shows the first, albeit smaller wave hitting them at 3:35pm and the second massive surge at 3:37pm. The complete loss of all electric power is recorded to be concurrent with the second tsunami wave at 3:37pm, and not before. Astonishingly, the NAIIC panel responded that Tepco’s (and the government’s) denial of quake-causation is deceitful, “(It is) very regrettable…(the investigators’ findings) are insincere.” In other words, the official records of the people who were physically at F. Daiichi and diligently labored to mitigate the effects of the tsunami are not to be trusted! To the contrary, NAIIC had no-one at F. Daiichi on 3/11/11 and reject the eye-witness account. Theyplace their faith in one off-shore wave gauge, combined with wild speculation that the emergency diesels failed before the wave hit. Does this make any sense?
Of course not!
This single faux-pas on the part of NAIIC threatens to taint what is otherwise a well done effort.
