Japan’s nuclear regulator and the Fukushima power plant’s operator have been criticised for buying into the “myth” of nuclear safety in a new report.

According to the Japanese government panel appointed to look into the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the regulator didn’t plan for a massive natural disaster.

The plant suffered a triple meltdown last March and released radioactive material after being hit by the 15-metre tsunami caused by the devastating earthquake.

The panel chaired by University of Tokyo engineering professor Yotaro Hatamura worries other nuclear plants might not be prepared for future disasters.

It stated in the report: “Both the government and companies should establish a new philosophy of disaster prevention that requires safety and disaster measures against any massive accident and disaster … regardless of event probability,” reported Reuters.

The report recommends a fresh look at safety procedures. It is the second in a month to lay blame on authorities for not being fully prepared, after a Japanese parliamentary panel found Fukushima was a “man-made disaster” and suggested Japan’s regulator and the operator had previously been too cosy.