Japan’s nuclear disaster result of ‘collusion’

Japan’s Fukushima nuclear crisis was a preventable disaster resulting from “collusion” among the government, regulators and the plant operator, an expert panel said, wrapping up an inquiry into the worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

Damage from the huge Mar 11, 2011, earthquake, and not just the ensuing tsunami, could not be ruled out as a cause of the accident, the panel added, a finding with serious potential implications as Japan seeks to bring idled reactors on line.

The panel criticised the response of Fukushima Daiichi plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co, regulators and then prime minister Naoto Kan, who quit last year after criticism of his handling of a natural disaster that became a man-made crisis.