The truth is out where?

EARLIER this week the Japanese government raised the level of the Fukushima disaster to seven, the maximum on the scale of international atomic crises. That is the same level as Chernobyl. Some in Japan are saying it could be even worse than the Russian accident.

Some outside of Japan, however, are saying it doesn’t add up.

Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom, is in Sanya, China, for the BRICS summit. He said:

“It is hard for me to assess why the Japanese colleagues have taken this decision…I suspect this is more of a financial issue than a nuclear one.”

By a financial issue, Mr. Kiriyenko might mean the Japanese government wanted to lessen the hit on insurance companies.

“I guess that maybe it could be linked to the definition of force majeure with regards to insurance? I would pay attention to that. It is a bit strange….Our estimates have shown that the level was between five and six. Today it doesn’t reach the sixth level.”

Lest one dismiss that as a manifestation of the often inimical attitude the Russians have toward Japan, the report points out that the French nuclear safety agency also said this week that Fukushima was not comparable to Chernobyl. Further, both the WHO and the IAEA said that the identical crisis rating did not mean the accidents were identical in severity.

I understand how force majeure would apply in this situation regardless of the level, but I don’t understand how raising the level defining the extent of the crisis would have an effect on insurance payments.

Another possibility the report doesn’t mention is that the anti-nuclear power wing of the ruling party might want to use the rating as the means to limit the use of nuclear power in Japan in the future. That’s just speculation on my part, however.

And those who enjoy funky rumors will love this one. A reporter/columnist with ties to the DPJ wrote last month that stories were circulating among the left wing of the DPJ and what he described as Tokyo Electric Power “lobbyists” that Prime Minister Kan Naoto’s highly publicized temper tantrum with TEPCO officials was really just a performance. He met with them for three hours behind closed doors after that outburst. According to this account, the prime minister cut a deal with the utility that his government would let them off lightly in exchange for some heavyweight political contributions. Tokyo Electric’s political funds now go to the Liberal Democratic Party. The younger left-wing DPJ pols seem to think that was quite a stroke by Mr. Kan. If the new level helps mitigate insurance payouts, does that mean the fix is on?

Meanwhile, politicians from all the opposition parties have already started to use the new seven rating as a weapon against the Kan Cabinet.

Is Level Seven the truth, or just a convenient fiction for a lot of different people for reasons of their own?

UPDATE: Reader 21st Century Schizoid Man sent in a comment that led to this article by Shimatsu Yoichi in Global Research. Here’s the lede:

Confused and often conflicting reports out of Fukushima 1 nuclear plant cannot be solely the result of tsunami-caused breakdowns, bungling or miscommunication. Inexplicable delays and half-baked explanations from Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) seem to be driven by some unspoken factor.

Breakdowns, bungling, and miscommunication seem like reasonable explanations to me. One could also add CYA to the list. But no!

The smoke and mirrors at Fukushima 1 seem to obscure a steady purpose, an iron will and a grim task unknown to outsiders. The most logical explanation: The nuclear industry and government agencies are scrambling to prevent the discovery of atomic-bomb research facilities hidden inside Japan’s civilian nuclear power plants.

A capital idea, if true. Unfortunately, Mr. Shimatsu offers no logicial explanation in his article. We do have references to Imperial Japan’s occupation of Manchuria, however, as well as Class A war criminals, a three-generation conspiracy among politicians, government, and big business, and the always-sinister Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.

Here’s my favorite passage:

The head of the Liberal Democrats, which sponsored nuclear power under its nearly 54-year tenure, has just held confidential talks with U.S. Ambassador John Roos, while President Barack Obama was making statements in support of new nuclear plants across the U.S.

The substance of undisclosed talks between Tokyo and Washington can be surmised from disruptions to my recent phone calls to a Japanese journalist colleague. While inside the radioactive hot zone, his roaming number was disconnected, along with the mobiles of nuclear workers at Fukushima 1 who are denied phone access to the outside world. The service suspension is not due to design flaws. When helping to prepare the Tohoku crisis response plan in 1996, my effort was directed at ensuring that mobile base stations have back-up power with fast recharge.

A subsequent phone call when my colleague returned to Tokyo went dead when I mentioned “GE.” That incident occurred on the day that GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt landed in Tokyo with a pledge to rebuild the Fukushima 1 nuclear plant. Such apparent eavesdropping is only possible if national phone carrier NTT is cooperating with the signals-intercepts program of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA).

Some people offer links for educational purposes. I offer this one for entertainment purposes.