International nuclear authorities have unleashed a tirade on Japanese operators, condemning their perceived incompetence in recent melt-down disasters.

The onslaught began after TEPCO, Japan's main energy group, admitted it could not stop radioactive groundwater seeping into the oceans, confirming the suspicions of many since the earthquake and subsequent reactor failure in 2011.

Dale Klein, former head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), told a panel in Tokyo: “This action regarding the water contamination demonstrates a lack of conservative decision-making process. These actions indicate that you don't know what you are doing ... you do not have a plan and that you are not doing all you can to protect the environment and the people... it also appears that you are not keeping the people of Japan informed.”

Mr Klein did not hold back on the TEPCO-sponsored nuclear reform monitoring panel, it was composed of two foreign experts and four from Japan - including the company's chief executive.

Barbara Judge, chairman of Britain's Atomic Energy Authority, says she was equally concerned about the company's lack of disclosure, saying “I hope that there will be lessons learned from the mishandling of this issue and the next time an issue arises - which inevitably it will because decommissioning is a complicated and difficult process - that the public will be immediately informed about the situation and what TEPCO is planning to do in order to remedy it.”

Experts say decommissioning the site will take decades, and most residents will likely never be able to return.

Technology may provide a helping hand where human competence falls short, with the invention of a new technique for cladding the fuel-rods in a nuclear reactor, to allow them to operate safely and more stably.

Researchers at MIT are developing an alternative to current cladding which could provide similar protection for nuclear fuel, while reducing the risk of dangerous hydrogen production by a thousandfold. Tests of the new cladding material, a ceramic compound called silicon carbide (SiC), are described in the subscribers-only journal Nuclear Technology. 

"We are looking at all sides of the issue, regarding replacing the metallic cladding with ceramic," says Mujid Kazimi, the TEPCO Professor of Nuclear Engineering at MIT, who is senior author of the papers. Because of the harsh environment fuel rods are exposed to - heat, steam, and neutrons that emanate from nuclear reactions - extensive further testing will be needed on any new cladding for use in commercial reactors, Kazimi says.