I never heard of it or perhaps didn't pay enough attention back in the late seventies when the Three Mile Island accident took place.It is likely such a matter will have been brought up then in the context of JC's decisions.
Indeed I find it unbelievable that the only people who can stabilise the plant should have lacked essential protective and monitoring gear to get on with their job.
They are required to know and feel confident they are as fully protected as is humanly possible.
In Safety no cost should be waived well before a critical situation develops. The aim is to ensure maximum protection and efficacy to the only people who ultimately have to fix problems as complex and hazardous as these.
If the reports out are accurate Tepco's leadership, company culture and Safety planning all need a complete overhaul.Besides every other legal liability the company may face once 'first things first' have been successfully dealt with.
Also, Japan's government and larger political establishment need to accomplish total separation between oversight, advisory panels and operators.
Furthermore, strict enforcement of safety practices and safety reviews must be assured by setting up as many redundant independent bodies or procedures as deemed required. The goal being to ensure that what needs doing is actually done at any one time during the lifetime of nuclear power stations.
I do not underestimate the inherent difficulties - some of which are likely unpredictable - in the aftermath of a natural event as devastating as the March 11 one.
What I have found deeply disturbing - not quite matching up to Japan's broad reputation - is to learn Tepco has had a blatantly chequered safety record of despondency and deceit.
Unacceptable at any one level in any company least of all in an industry as sensitive as nuclear power for wider public implications when things do go wrong.
Team effort is critical so too is leadership rooted in technical understanding not many will have mastered.
But as with all things human outright success rests on essential actions getting done right for the right reasons.
Restoring shattered public confidence and trust will take considerably more.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário