UN criticises Japan for nuclear design failures but praises crisis response

The preliminary report by a the International Atomic Energy Agency also said the tsunami hazard was under-estimated at several other nuclear facilities in Japan, and called for experts worldwide to learn from the disaster.

The IAEA team of international experts from 12 countries, which spent a week in Japan conferring with officials and inspecting the plant, will submit its full report at a high-level IAEA conference in Vienna from June 20-24.

“Japan’s response to the nuclear accident has been exemplary, particularly (as) illustrated by the dedicated, determined and expert staff working under exceptional conditions,” the report said. It also praised the evacuation of 80.000 people living near the plant as “impressive and well-organised”.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi facility was hit by a huge tsunami generated by a major earthquake on March 11. The plant suffered explosions, fires and meltdowns.

The tsunami that hit the plant, estimated as high as 49ft (15m), “overwhelmed” the plant’s defences which had been designed to cope with a quake and tsunami, but not one as big as the magnitude nine disaster.