TOKYO: Just four hours after a tsunami swept into the Fukushima nuclear power plant on March 11 last year, Japan's leaders knew the damage was so severe the reactors could melt down, but they kept it secret for months.

The revelations were in documents released late last week. The minutes of the government's crisis management meetings from the day the earthquake and tsunami struck until late December had to be reconstructed retroactively.

A year later … looking for personal photographs at a tsunami collection centre for effects in Sendai. Credit:Reuters

They show confusion, delayed responses and miscommunication among government and plant officials as some ministers expressed the sense nobody was in charge while conditions quickly worsened.

The minutes quoted an official as saying the reactors' cooling functions were being kept running by batteries that would last eight hours. ''If temperatures in the reactor cores keep rising … there is a possibility of meltdown,'' the official said during a meeting hours after the tsunami.

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The revelation comes as people continue to look for cherished possessions in centres set up by recovery authorities.

Associated Press