U.S. Hid Own Risks After Fukushima

After the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in March 2011, the U.S. went out of its way to downplay the likelihood of a similar crisis occurring at home. Emails within the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission released Monday via the Freedom of Information Act reveal a campaign to assuage American fears of a nuclear meltdown, even as the agency was unsure of the safety of U.S. plants. NRC emails show that the agency declined to address reporters' questions about a worst-case scenario and tried to dissuade the press from using its own data on earthquake risks. It even actively hid Japanese engineers from reporters visiting the NRC's operations center in Maryland to distance itself from Fukushima.