Azernews.Az

A government-appointed panel investigating Japan`s Fukushima nuclear disaster says the operator of the crippled plant continues to delay investigators and has tried to understate the true amount of damage at the complex.

The panel said in its report on July 23 that a culture of complacency about nuclear safety and poor crisis management worsened the disaster.

The report faults the government and its main nuclear regulator, the Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency, for promoting nuclear power as an entirely safe form of energy without being open about its risks.

In early July, an independent investigative commission said in a separate inquiry that the nuclear disaster ``was the result of collusion between the government, regulators, and the plant`s operator`` -- the Tokyo Electric Power Company.