Japan rejected the U.S. technical assistance after the accident at the nuclear plant in Fukushima, affected by an earthquake and tsunami a week ago, the newspaper reported Friday Yomiure Shimbun.
After the accident, the United States immediately offered his help, the newspaper said a senior Democratic Party of Japan, in power.
According to the newspaper, citing the unnamed sources, the U.S. proposed to dismantle help affected plant reactors operated by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) in Fukushima, about 250 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.
The Japanese government and the company rejected the initiative thinking it was "too early to take" and believing they would be able to repair refrigeration systems, the paper said.
Thus, some government officials and ruling party claim that the crisis could have been avoided if the government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan had accepted the offer, it said.
On Thursday, the Japanese army used trucks and helicopters to pour tons of water inside the plant to cool the fuel rods and prevent a radioactive release.
Last Friday, a magnitude 9 earthquake, the largest ever recorded in Japan, and then a tsunami devastated the east coast, leaving a balance of more than 16,000 dead and missing, according to the balance given by the police to Friday.
