Online Tributes Pour In As Fukushima Hero Yoshida Masao Dies
by Beth on Thursday, July 11, 2013
by Beth on Thursday, July 11, 2013
The courageous contributions of Yoshida Masao, the general manager of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, made global news today as his death was announced in Japan with much sadness.
It was Yoshida’s decision to ignore instructions from TEPCO to stop injecting seawater into the plant at the time of the nuclear incident that many experts credit with having averted a catastrophic nuclear accident.
And tributes flooded in from Japanese netizens, who praised his leadership and mourned his passing. But there were also questions raised about his responsibility for the incident having occurred in the first place, as well as doubts as to whether his death from esophageal cancer really was unrelated to the radiation he was exposed to at the time of the incident.
From Mainichi Shimbun:
Yoshida Masao, Former General Manager Of “Fukushima Daiichi Plant”, Dies; Handled The Nuclear Accident At The Scene
Yoshida Masao (TEPCO executive officer), Former General Manager who orchestrated efforts at the time of the nuclear incident at the TEPCO Fukushima No. 1 Plant, died in a Tokyo hospital on July 9 from esophageal cancer. He was 58. Funeral plans have yet to be decided.
Yoshida originated from Osaka prefecture. He specialised in nuclear engineering at the graduate school of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, and joined TEPCO in 1979. In the past he had served as the chief of the nuclear facilities division at TEPCO’s headquarters. His career was devoted entirely to nuclear power, and in June 2006 he took up the post as General Manager of the Fukushima No. 1 Plant.
In mid-November 2011, it was discovered during a check-up that Yoshida was suffering from esophageal cancer, and he retired from his post as general manager on December 1, 2011. He later expressed an interest to those around him in resuming his post when his health recovered; however in July 2012 he collapsed following a stroke and continued to be cared for at home. During the incident at the Fukushima No. 1 Plant, Yoshida had been exposed to around 70 millisieverts of radiation. A spokesperson for TEPCO’s public relations department stated that “The results of the attending physician’s diagnosis show that Yoshida’s death was not directly related to the radiation exposure”.
On the evening directly following the nuclear incident, March 3, 2011, Yoshida continued to inject seawater into the reactor based on his own judgement of the situation, despite having been ordered to stop seawater injection into the No. 1 reactor by TEPCO executives. Had he not refused orders, then it is possible that the fuel meltdown would have progressed further, and Yoshida has been praised for his judgement. Former Japanese Prime Minister Kan Naoto, who headed to the scene of the incident from the Prime Minister’s Residence in Tokyo, revealed in his own writing that when work on a vent to lower pressure in the containment vessel hit difficulties, it was Yoshida who stated his determination, saying “I’ll form a suicide corps if I have to”.
On July 9, TEPCO CEO Hirose Naomi published the following comment: “I looked forward to seeing him taking command with that energetic, booming voice of his; I am deeply saddened to hear of his passing”.
