THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
July 13, 2023 at 14:21 JST
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Takeshi Iwashita)
The Nuclear Regulation Authority decided July 12 to take another look into whether Tokyo Electric Power Co. is the appropriate entity to operate the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.
For TEPCO to clear safety screenings and resume operations at the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors, the authority must confirm that the utility is fit to operate the facility.
The issue of appropriateness arose in the aftermath of the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which is also operated by TEPCO.
TEPCO in recent years incensed the NRA by failing to implement mandatory measures aimed at thwarting a terrorist attack on the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. That prompted the NRA to take the unusual step in April 2021 of banning the movement of nuclear fuel within the complex, effectively shutting down its operations.
And that is how things now stand, even if the company passes safety screenings.
This past May, the NRA decided to extend the ban on grounds several issues had not been adequately addressed.
Now the authority will question TEPCO officials and examine internal documents to determine if the company is sticking to a pledge made in October 2020 that included seven points, including to place utmost priority on safety when managing the company.
NRA Chairman Shinsuke Yamanaka touched upon the inadequate anti-terrorist measures, saying, “TEPCO committed major violations, so we have the responsibility of examining its appropriateness as a plant operator and explaining our findings.”
The process is expected to take about three months.
In the meantime, local officials in Niigata Prefecture were openly asking if perhaps an entity other than TEPCO should not be placed in charge of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
“I harbor concerns over whether a safety culture climate has really taken root at TEPCO,” Governor Hideyo Hanazumi said at the June 29 session of the Niigata prefectural assembly.
Nagaoka Mayor Tatsunobu Isoda, who heads a research group of Niigata Prefecture municipalities concerned about nuclear plant safety, said in late May, “I think it would be better if the central government began thinking about a framework for electric power generation that did not involve TEPCO.”
Even Kashiwazaki Mayor Masahiro Sakurai, who had in the past favored resumption of operations at the nuclear plant, has said he was asking himself if there was an entity besides TEPCO that could take over the operations.
He made the comment after it was revealed that a TEPCO employee not only left the office with design blueprints without proper permission, but placed the documents in an envelope on the car roof and drove off, thereby losing the documents.
(This article was written by Ryo Sasaki, Keitaro Fukuchi and Yasuo Tomatsu.)
NRA’s fuel ban could delay TEPCO’s reactor restart plan
May 18, 2023
Energy authority clears TEPCO to restart Niigata nuclear plant
September 23, 2020
TEPCO reports lack of risk awareness, safety at Niigata plant
September 23, 2021
EDITORIAL: TEPCO’s fitness to operate nuke reactors still open to question
September 24, 2020
TEPCO bungles placement of 100 fire detectors at nuclear plant
September 20, 2021
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
