*Italics mine. wb



IAEA: Nuke plant near Fukushima largely undamaged
[link to www.boston.com]

[snip]

The tsunami was more than 13 meters (43 feet) high at both nuclear plants. Fukushima Dai-ichi's seawall was built to withstand a tsunami of up 5.7 meters (18.7 feet). Onagawa's seawall was nearly 14 meters (46 feet) high and survived the tsunami. It has since been extended to nearly 17 meters (56 feet) above sea level.


That is a huge difference. 18.7 feet....46 feet.
Why would two NPPs that close together have different requirements for a seawall..?
The Fuku site was excavated to get the water intakes closer to the ocean.
The Oganawa site was also excavated.. it lost 2 of 3 powerlines during the EQ.

[link to www.tohoku-epco.co.jp]
[snip]
The onagawa nuclear power station is located in both Onagawa-cho and Ishinomaki City, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, 70 km to the north of the Sendai City. The site area is about 1,730,000 sq. meters. The site was excavated to place the buildings of the station on deep rigid bed-rocks and artificial rocks.

Investigations by the government, the parliament and private groups have found that Tokyo Electric Power Co. underestimated the earthquake and tsunami risks faced by its plant at Fukushima despite a history of quakes in the region. The investigations have also criticized TEPCO and government regulators, which have developed cozy relationships, for ignoring safety standards and recommendations, including those by IAEA and other groups.

They were cheap.. wouldn't spend the nickel to save the dollar. That money went into the 'slush fund'. Equalizes the outlay on the balance sheet.. Everybody is happy.. People at risk are 'collateral damage'.

No problems.. unless there is a freaking triple-meltdown


In May, the last of Japan's 50 working reactors were turned off as safety checks were carried out, but two are now back online and generating power. Despite public protests, the government is eager to restart reactors because of the ballooning cost of fuel imports to keep the power supply running.

It's always about the money..