The Kan Cabinet on May 24 established a third-party panel to investigate the accidents at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The move was extremely tardy, coming 2? months after the start of the nuclear crisis and nearly one month after Prime Minister Naoto Kan's announcement of his intention to create an investigation body. The panel met for the first time on Tuesday.
It is strongly hoped that panel head Mr. Yotaro Hatamura — a professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and an authority on study of errors and dangers — and the rest of the panel members will thoroughly investigate all important points related to the nuclear crisis because it is a matter of great concern not only for Japan but also for other countries.
There are more than 430 nuclear reactors in 30 countries. Naturally their operators and the governments concerned are carefully watching the events unfolding at Fukushima No. 1. Some governments are worried about the spread of radioactive substances from the plant. The accidents that have occurred at Fukushima No. 1 are extremely grave and must not be forgotten. A large tsunami knocked out all power sources for the reactors — an event unprecedented in the history of nuclear power generation — thus rendering the reactors' emergency core cooling system inoperative.