Japan's comprehensive investigation into the response to the Fuksuhima Daiichi crisis began Tuesday, as an independent panel of experts met to outline what they expect will be a yearlong evaluation of the events following the multiple-reactor accident.
Their investigation likely will go even further in depth than those of national and international nuclear agencies to date, with panel members given the authority to question anyone within the government or Tokyo Electric Power Co. The panel is expected to issue a preliminary report by the end of the year, Japan Today reported, and a final report by next summer. Its contents will focus on the actions taken by TEPCO and regulators to control reactors and spent-fuel tanks at the plant following the loss of power to their safety systems after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The independent panel joins ongoing investigations by Japanese regulatory agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency into the accident. Also on Tuesday, another Japanese government report indicated the country's nuclear safety agency would be split off from the industry ministry that now oversees it. The report for an IAEA safety meeting later this month also stated that the government failed to act swiftly in handling the crisis, Kyodo news reported. The report also said the country was not prepared for accidents as severe as the one that afflicted Fukushima, and a "fundamental revision" of Japan's safety preparedness for nuclear plants was inevitable.