#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: They Laid Power Cables Without Bothering to Clear Debris First

Another "Duh" moment for the on-going saga of Fukushima I Nuke Plant crisis.

I reported here before that after 10 days from the earthquake the Self Defense Force finally wised up and decided to send its armored vehicles (tanks) that could be fitted with blades to safely shove aside radioactive debris at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

The tanks duly arrived on the morning of March 21, but they are sitting there idly. All the news in Japan is about power being restored to the Reactor No.3 control room. (The control room is located in the adjacent building.)

Why?

Thank TEPCO and the government, for their decision to hasten to lay power cables to restore power to the plant. Now the cables are all over the place the huge tanks (Model 74) cannot move the debris without threatening to cut the cables.

This bit of information was buried toward the end of an article that appeared in Yomiuri Shinbun (in Japanese; 11:52PM JST 3/22/2011), which cheerfully talks about power being restored to the plant, grossing over the fact that many pumps and controls are broken.

It's hard to believe there are any engineers at TEPCO and in the government. The prime minister, who boasts that he graduated from Tokyo Institute of Technology with a degree in physics and knows all about technology including nuclear technology and who has set himself up as the leader of the government-led team to deal with the disaster, didn't even think of clearing the debris before ordering any substantial work at the plant. I guess it was below him to think about such a rudimentary task - clearing the debris.

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