We should probably withhold judgment on the degree to which TEPCO has mismanaged this unfolding disaster.

I've already outlined what I thought the mistakes were, none of which were of a criminal nature. But I wouldn't rule out deliberate cover-ups by TEPCO officials as well. A lot of information, of course, is missing because instrumentation went off-line along with the control rooms, and evidently the control rooms are still not fully functional (although the overhead lights work).

Hopefully third parties will soon gain access to the plant site and be able to take their own measurements.

The workers at the plant have had enough to do trying desperately to stabilize the melting fuel rods, and the huge volumes of radioactive water. They don't seem to have the training or time to make systematic measurements.

Charley Noble