Tepco manuals point to critical safety lapses

[robdogbucky]

Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011

Tepco manuals point to critical safety lapses

Instructions fail to address total loss of power to plant's reactors
By KAZUAKI NAGATA
Staff writer

Newly disclosed manuals for workers at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant highlight the utility's lack of preparedness for an emergency, a major factor leading to the meltdowns after the March 11 quake-tsunami, a review by The Japan Times showed Tuesday.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency disclosed the 170-page manuals for operators at the No. 1 reactor unit of the Fukushima plant, the first of the three reactors to melt down.

Instructions in the manuals were all based on the assumption that two backup direct current batteries at reactor 1 would keep working throughout any emergency. In fact, the batteries were knocked out by water when the monster tsunami struck and crippled the Fukushima plant.

The manuals also failed to instruct workers to open by hand critical valves normally powered by electricity to vent steam and thus reduce pressure in the containment vessel. The DC batteries were supposed to supply power to operate those valves...

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111025x1.html

[PoliticAverse]

1. Why prepare for something that's never gonna happen, right ? n/t