调查报告称福岛核事故为“人为灾难”

The crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant was "a profoundly man-made disaster", a Japanese parliamentary panel has said in a report.

The disaster "could and should have been foreseen and prevented" and its effects "mitigated by a more effective human response", it said.

The report catalogued serious deficiencies in both the government and plant operator Tepco's response.

It also blamed cultural conventions and a reluctance to question authority.

The six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was badly damaged after the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems to reactors, leading to meltdowns and the release of radioactivity.

Tens of thousands of residents were evacuated from an exclusion zone around the plant as workers battled to bring reactors under control. Tepco declared the reactors stable in December 2011.

Members of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission were appointed to examine the handling of the crisis and make recommendations.

The investigation included 900 hours of hearings and interviews with more than 1,000 people.

In the panel's final report, its chairman said a multitude of errors and wilful negligence had left the plant unprepared for the earthquake and tsunami.

"Although triggered by these cataclysmic events, the subsequent accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant cannot be regarded as a natural disaster," it said.

"It was a profoundly man-made disaster - that could and should have been foreseen and prevented."

After six months of investigation, the panel concluded that the disaster "was the result of collusion between the government, the regulators and Tepco" founded in the failure of regulatory systems.

It said that the situation at the plant worsened in the aftermath of the earthquake because government agencies "did not function correctly", with key roles left ambiguous.

It also highlighted communication failures between Tepco and the office of then Prime Minister Naoto Kan, whose visit to the site in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake "diverted" staff.

(Read by Brian Salter. Brian Salter is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

双语资讯

(Agencies)

日本国会福岛核事故调查委员会近日公布调查报告，称福岛核事故“完全是人为灾难”。

报告称，“有关人员本应预见到这起事故并予以避免”，而事故的后果“也本应通过更有效的应对措施得以缓解”。

报告将政府以及负责核电站经营的东京电力公司的严重应对失误进行了分类。

报告还指责了日本的文化传统，以及人们不愿意质询当局的习惯。

2011年3月11日的日本强震及海啸摧毁了核反应堆的冷却系统，使拥有6座核反应堆的福岛第一核电站损毁严重，导致堆芯熔毁，引发辐射物质泄漏。

核电站附近隔离区的数万名居民被迫疏散，工作人员尽力控制住核反应堆的状况。去年11月，东京电力宣布核反应堆状态稳定。

日本国会去年12月设立福岛核事故调查委员会，负责调查核危机的处理情况，并提出建议。

调查委员会进行了900个小时的听证，传唤了超过一千人。

委员会主席在最终报告中指出，大量失误和有意忽略使得核电站无法承受地震和海啸的冲击。

报告说：“尽管由地震海啸引发，但随后发生在福岛第一核电站的事故却不能被认为是自然灾害。”

“这完全是人为灾难，应该提前预见到并加以防范。”

在调查6个月后，委员会得出结论认为，由于监管体系存在问题，这起灾难“是政府、监管者和东京电力公司共同导致的”。

报告指出，地震后核电站的情况恶化是由于政府机构“应对不得力”，但没有指明关键人物。

报告还强调指出，东京电力公司和日本首相菅直人办公室之间沟通不畅，菅直人在地震后立即前往现场使工作人员“分心”。

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