fukuyama was the adviser. we managed on an emergency mission basis.in an emergency bunker, japanese officials struggled to grasp the size of the catastrophe. as we listened to our top nuclear experts we politicians had no idea what they were talking about. would this be another chernobyl or three mile island? no one could give us a straight answer. after 300 interviews the report pointed the finger at the plant's operator, tokyo electric. he was the lead investigator. >> no question that tepco, the power company, was primary to blame. they were unprepared for this complicated nuclear accident. >> reporter: unprepared for a power failure, and without electricity, the cores of the reactor couldn't stay cool, triggering explosions and meltdowns. the report also blames the government's own regulators for failing to have an emergency plan if a magnitude 9 earthquake struck. with the sketchy reports the government began to fear the worst, a massive cloud of radiation would cover entire tokyo region and force the evacuation of 35 million people. >> and they

tetsuro fukuyama was the prime minister's advisor. "the normal lines of authority completely collapsed" he told investigators. "we managed on an emergency mission basis huddled in an emergency bunker, japanese officials struggled to grasp the size of the catastrophe. as we listened to our top nuclear experts we politicians had no idea what they were talking about. would this be another chernobyl or three mile island? no one could give us a straight answer." after 300 interviews with officials and experts, the report pointed the finger at the plant's operator, tokyo electric. >> reporter: unprepared, says the report, for a power failure. and without electricity the cores of the reactors couldn't stay cool, triggering explosions and meltdowns. the report also blames the government's own regulators for failing to have an emergency plan if a magnitude nine earthquake struck. with only sketchy reports from the plant, the government began to fear the worst: a massive cloud of radiation would cover the entire tokyo region and force the evacu

fukuyama said he'd lead the team. terrified doesn't begin to describe how we felt, he said. "months later when we learned the reactors had, in fact, melted down i was overwhelmed by you are inability." a no-go zone around the plant remains in place. the radiation is still too high for residents to return and cleanup of the plant is forecast to take 40 years. lucy craft, cbs news, tokyo. >> pelley: the phone hacking scandal in britain takes a sharp turn. it could be bad news for r [ alarm clock ringing ] [ female announcer ] if you have rheumatoid arthritis, can you start the day the way you want? can orencia help? [ woman ] i wanted to get up when i was ready, not my joints. [ female announcer ] could your "i want" become "i can"? talk to your doctor. orencia reduces many ra symptoms like pain, morning stiffness and progression of joint damage. it's helped new ra patients and those not helped enough by other treatments. do not take orencia with another biologic medicine for ra due to an increased risk of serious infection. serious side effects can occur including fatal infec