The desperation and helplessness workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant felt in the immediate aftermath of the March 11 disasters are described in a report detailing Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s in-house investigation.
"I felt I could do nothing. Other operators appeared anxious, and said, 'When we cannot control (the reactors) and are helpless, is there any point in us staying here?' " the chief of the reactors' central control room is quoted as saying in an interim report Tepco released Friday. "So, I bowed my head and asked them to stay."
The account is part of a separate volume that was attached to the report, which also describes the difficulties workers experienced trying to release pressure in the containment vessels in the first few days of the crisis to avoid damaging them.