Tokyo Electric Power Co. did not intentionally provide erroneous information to a Diet-appointed committee tasked with investigating the 2011 meltdown crisis at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, a third-party panel concluded Wednesday.
The panel was set up last month after media reports revealed a Tepco official had told an investigative committee member in February 2012 that the fourth floor of the building housing the crippled reactor 1 was in "complete darkness" — a claim that was not true — leading the committee to halt an on-site inspection.
According to the report, compiled by an independent panel of three lawyers, the Tepco official gave the incorrect explanation because he "misunderstood" the situation inside the reactor building.