NRC Fukushima Transcripts

The NRC has released transcripts of conversations in the operations center during the first days of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis that unfolded after the quake and tsunami hit Japan.

The transcripts are heavily edited with large blacked-out sections. The NRC claimed they would not release anything sensitive from Japan or TEPCO as being “proprietary”. Initial readings of the transcripts indicate the NRC was a bit lost in how to respond. At points, they appeared more lost than the internet was about the disaster and needed to scramble for research into how workers in Japan may want to respond to the out-of-control reactors. So does the NRC not have any disaster protocols or plans on file? At one point someone asks about dumping sand into unit 4’s spent fuel pool if it could not hold water. NRC officials said they needed to send someone to go do research on the idea and what it might do to the pool.

We have cataloged all of the transcripts for ease of use and to assure copies are archived.
The transcripts can be found in our DropBox files here.