In an angry confrontation with executives at Tokyo Electric Power on Wednesday, Naoto Kan, Japan’s prime minister, demanded to know “what the hell was going on” at the utility’s critically damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. He also delivered a warning: “If you abandon the plant, I guarantee Tepco will collapse.”
Tepco has not given up its desperate battle to cool overheated reactors and spent fuel tanks at the plant, which was spewing ever more dangerous levels of radiation on Thursday, six days after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami.
But even if it manages to bring the emergency under control, Tepco’s future looks bleak.