a few of the plant's workers were severely injured or killed by the disaster conditions resulting from the earthquake. there were no immediate deaths due to direct radiation exposures, but at least six workers have exceeded lifetime legal limits for radiation and more than 300 have received significant radiation doses. predicted future cancer deaths due to accumulated radiation exposures in the population living near fukushima have ranged from none to 100 to a non-peer-reviewed "guesstimate" of 1,000. on 16 december 2011, japanese authorities declared the plant to be stable, although it would take decades to decontaminate the surrounding areas and to decommission the plant altogether. on 5 july 2012, the parliament appointed the fukushima nuclear accident independent investigation commission (naiic) submitted its inquiry report to the japanese parliament, while the government appointed investigation committee on the accident at the fukushima nuclear power stations of tokyo electric power company submitted its final report to the japanese government on 23 july 2012. tepco admitted for the first time on october 12, 2012 that it had failed to take stronger measures to prevent disasters for fear of inviting lawsuits or protests against its nuclear plants.