Regulators Report Lack Of Efforts To Protect Nuclear Material At Power Plant
Japan's nuclear regulators have pointed out that a lack of human involvement in efforts to safeguard nuclear material led to serious security lapses at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan.
All seven of the plant's reactors are currently offline due to government policy following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident. The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, hopes to restart the facility but cannot unless the problems are judged to have been resolved.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday received an interim report from its secretariat on steps to prevent recurrences of serious flaws in anti-terrorist measures implemented at the plant.
The report noted that compared to other nuclear power plants, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa carried out poor maintenance of the equipment used to safeguard nuclear material. In addition, it said that people in supervisory positions did not take part in discussions on trouble-shooting, and they were rarely on site.
The report mentioned it cannot be said that the problems are company-wide. Inspectors found no indication that the utility's cost-cutting efforts after the Fukushima nuclear accident led to the security lapses.
Authority Chairman Fuketa Toyoshi said TEPCO should be more vigilant and have a stronger sense of crisis than any other utility, yet it's unclear whether it had paid enough attention to safeguarding nuclear material at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
Fuketa said he will ask TEPCO to explain whether protective equipment can function sufficiently even when corporate culture and attitude are substandard.
The authority endorsed the interim report, and decided on eight clauses needed to lift the ban on nuclear fuel transfer at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant imposed on TEPCO a year ago.
The clauses include the installation of equipment to prevent intruders even in the plant's harsh natural environment, including deep snow. TEPCO will also need to drastically review its system for dealing with trouble.
The authority plans to focus on the implementation of these clauses in future inspections.