Prime Minister Naoto Kan categorically denied allegations Monday that he ordered Tokyo Electric Co. to temporarily stop injecting seawater into an overheating reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant a day after the March 11 devastating earthquake.
According to Tepco, workers began pumping seawater into the No. 1 reactor at 7:04 p.m. on March 12 and stopped the test at 7:25 p.m., resuming the injection after 55 minutes.
But recent media reports have suggested that Kan ordered the utility to stop after being told by Haruki Madarame, chairman of the Nuclear Safety Commission, that there was a danger of restarting a chain reaction in an event known as a "recriticality."