Suga: Tepco's Nuclear Operator Ability In Doubt
Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has strongly criticized Tokyo Electric Power Company over security breaches at one of its nuclear power plants, saying people inevitably doubt its qualification to run such plants.
Suga made the criticism at an Upper House committee meeting after sensors for detecting intruders were found to be broken at TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture on the Japan Sea coast.
Suga said it's regrettable that the operator caused a serious, inappropriate incident undermining the trust of host communities.
Suga urged TEPCO to sincerely respond to inspections by the Nuclear Regulation Authority and take drastic measures to improve its management.
NRA Chairman Fuketa Toyoshi called the incident truly grave. He said the agency will look into whether the background of the incident was unique to TEPCO and how top management handled the incident.
He added that the matter is related to TEPCO's culture and attitude, and urged the firm to launch its own probe.
TEPCO President Kobayakawa Tomoaki said the company caused a serious accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant a decade ago.
He said it's extremely regrettable that the incident happened when TEPCO was working to reform itself to avoid causing such accidents ever again.
The NRA had found that the plant's sensor equipment was broken for months, and that employees in charge of security took no action despite knowing that alternative measures taken by the firm were ineffective.