The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency ordered Tepco in March 2011 to delay announcing that the pressure level in one of the Fukushima No. 1 plant’s wrecked reactors was spiking to critical levels, teleconference footage released by the utility shows.
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The footage, however, shows that in a conversation with the utility’s headquarters in Tokyo, one member of the team said, “We’ve been stopped by the government and are being made to wait before issuing any announcement to the press.”“NISA officials are blocking any release of information on the matter,” a person who appears to be a head office employee says in the video images. “The agency’s officials are saying that (Tepco) should not be the entity to announce this either.”
Another voice on the recordings can be heard stating that NISA had refused to give Tepco permission to announce the pressure surge, saying, “We’ve been strongly requested, instructed not to announce this.”
NISA has said it kept Tepco’s announcement on hold because officials were unable to get in touch with its chief to obtain the necessary permission.
Continue reading at NISA told Tepco to delay reporting looming explosion
