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Japan's TEPCO says may close all reactors by April
Index:
Japan's TEPCO says may close all reactors by April
Diet revises 2 laws to toughen nuclear reactor inspections
TEPCO punishes 9 workers over reactor data falsification
Officials Question Security Of A-Plant
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Japan's TEPCO says may close all reactors by April
TOKYO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Japan's largest power utility, Tokyo
Electric Power Co Inc (TEPCO) <9501.T>, said on Wednesday that all
the nuclear reactors it operates could be shut down temporarily by
the middle of April.
"A final decision has not been made, but if we are to talk of
possibilities, then there is a chance that all 17 of our nuclear
reactors might be closed by mid-April next year," a company spokesman
said.
In September, TEPCO began shutting down reactors for safety checks
ahead of its normal checks after revelations of lapses in previous
inspections.
The Tokyo-based power utility has already closed nine of its nuclear
reactors, or about half of its nuclear generation capacity, and has
drafted a programme for closing another four reactors next January
and February.
The spokesman said that TEPCO was considering closing the remaining
four in March and April, but a final decision was pending. The
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) ordered TEPCO to
schedule early checks on its reactors after the utility admitted in
October that staff had manipulated the air pressure of a container in
the reactor at a plant in Fukushima Prefecture, northern Japan,
during safety tests.
METI, which viewed the breach as a serious safety violation, last
month ordered a one-year suspension of the 460-megawatt No.1 reactor
at the Fukushima No.1 plant.
TEPCO officials said the company has secured enough power supply to
make up for the shortfall from the shutdowns, at least to cover
winter demand, by running idled thermal power plants.
Of more serious concern, however, is whether it will have enough to
meet summer demand.
On Wednesday, TEPCO released a report on the results of an
investigation, led by a team of outside lawyers, into the
manipulation that took place at the Fukushima plant.
The report said employees had manipulated two tests conducted in 1991
and 1992.
TEPCO said it had dealt out punitive measures against nine of the
employees involved in the data falsification who were still with the
company.
-------------------
Diet revises 2 laws to toughen nuclear reactor inspections
TOKYO, Dec. 11 (Kyodo) - The House of Councillors passed two nuclear
reactor regulation bills into law on Thursday, aiming to prevent
cover-ups of reactor facility defects by their operators.
The laws, proposed by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, have
revised the Electric Utility Law and the Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Law. They place company inspections in the framework of law and
toughen punishments for rule violators.
The legislation comes in response to a series of defect cover-ups and
data fabrications uncovered last summer and autumn at Tokyo Electric
Power Co.'s (TEPCO) nuclear power plants.
The laws have adopted standards that will allow an operator to keep
running a reactor even if damage is found at its facilities or in its
equipment, but only after estimating how much such damage is likely
to increase.
If an internal inspection shows the likelihood of damage found at
reactor facilities or equipment failing to meet safety standards, the
operator will be required to report it to the state.
The laws will also enable the government's Nuclear Safety Commission
to investigate possible misdemeanors on tips given by whistleblowers,
in addition to the nuclear safety agency of the Economy, Trade and
Industry Ministry and other bodies.
The new rules on reactor operations and company inspections will take
effect next fall. The additional power will be given to the nuclear
commission starting next spring.
In a related move, the Diet enacted a law the same day to create an
independent administrative agency that will carry out part of the
reactor facility inspections undertaken by the state.
------------------
TEPCO punishes 9 workers over reactor data falsification
TOKYO, Dec. 11 (Kyodo) - Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) dismissed
one employee and punished eight others Wednesday over data
falsification of a crucial safety feature at one of its nuclear
reactor facilities.
Hitachi Ltd., which undertook inspections that led to the
falsification, said the same day it will reduce the pay of its
president and three others, as well as one at an affiliated firm.
The dismissal is the first since the revelation last summer of a
series of cover-ups and data falsification the country's largest
utility company committed in the 1980s and 1990s.
The nine TEPCO employees were held responsible for being involved in
manipulating checks on the air-tightness of the No. 1 reactor at the
Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in 1991 and 1992. Such an act
violates the Nuclear Reactor Regulation Law.
''I would like to apologize deeply to the public for causing
trouble,'' TEPCO President Tsunehisa Katsumata said at a press
conference.
He said, however, that the company will not punish any directors
because its president and chairman quit in September to take
responsibility for the series of scandals involving its nuclear
reactors and facilities.
The reactor container plays an important role in preventing
radioactive materials from leaking in the event of a nuclear
accident.
TEPCO tests the air-tightness of a reactor container during a regular
inspection conducted every year by injecting nitrogen into the
facility and checking the air pressure there.
According to a TEPCO report released Wednesday, five TEPCO employees,
including the dismissed one, decided during a 1991 check to inject
compressed air into the container after failing to maintain a certain
air-pressure reading.
They ordered Hitachi workers to inject the air to give acceptable
pressure readings inside the unit, the report said.
During a 1992 check, engineers found a valve from which air was
leaking, the report said, adding that six TEPCO employees ordered
Hitachi workers to seal off a pipe around the valve.
The air pressure did not stabilize, prompting those involved to
inject air into the container to give acceptable pressure readings
inside the unit, it said.
TEPCO said in the report that the employees were motivated by their
desire to avoid repeating the same checks.
The Nuclear and Industrial Agency slapped a one-year suspension on
the reactor's operation Oct. 25. TEPCO said last Thursday that a
recent check has shown the reactor container now has the required air
pressure.
-------------------
Officials Question Security Of A-Plant
BUCHANAN, N.Y., Dec. 9 — The Westchester County executive, Andrew J.
Spano, and other opponents of the Indian Point nuclear plant
questioned its security today, after the release of a report that
said some security guards there had expressed concerns after Sept. 11
about adequately protecting it.
Mr. Spano, who has called for the closing of Indian Point, said he
should have been told earlier about these security concerns, which
were documented in an internal report completed in January for the
plant's owner, the Entergy Corporation. The New York Times published
an article about the report on Sunday, after receiving a copy from
Riverkeeper, an environmental group that opposes the plant.
In response to the report, Mr. Spano said he planned to call for the
creation of a federal security force for nuclear plants — similar to
the one for airports — when he meets with county executives and
representatives from the Office of Homeland Security at a conference
in Washington on Wednesday.
"At this point, the security of the plants should be under Homeland
Security," he said. "You know, we have the airports under
Homeland Security, and they're not half as vulnerable as nuclear
plants."
Last year, legislation was introduced in Congress to federalize
security at nuclear plants around the country, but it was not passed.
Several Congressional aides said today that the issue appeared to be
dead, though some elected officials, including Senator Hillary
Rodham Clinton, have continued to seek more protection for nuclear
plants.
"We know that terrorists turned airplanes into missiles," Mrs.
Clinton said in a statement. "We don't want them to turn power plants
into nuclear weapons."
In the past year, widespread fears that nuclear plants could become
terrorist targets have prompted towns and villages across the
New York region to pass resolutions calling for the closing of Indian
Point 2 and its twin reactor, Indian Point 3, in this town about 40
miles north of Midtown Manhattan.
Last month, Mr. Spano set aside $500,000 in his budget for a study to
assess how the county could buy Indian Point, or seize it by
eminent domain if necessary, to replace the nuclear operation with a
natural-gas plant. Entergy has said it does not intend to sell
the site.
In the internal report, some security guards complained that they
were inadequately trained, that other other guards reported for duty
drunk, and that security drills were carefully staged to ensure that
mock attackers were repelled. These guards also said that they
were forced to work long hours and that their electronic security
equipment often malfunctioned.
Jim Steets, a spokesman for Entergy, said today that a federal
security force was unnecessary because the company had already
addressed most of the issues cited in the report. He pointed out that
Indian Point had also met security requirements set by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
For instance, Mr. Steets said, armed National Guard troops and state
troopers have been monitoring the entrance to Indian Point
since the Sept. 11 attacks, and concrete barriers and barbed-wire
fencing have been installed around the plants. In addition, he said,
Entergy plans to hire 30 new security guards in January in response
to complaints from some guards that they are being asked to
work too much.
"We hope that people will recognize that this is a year-old report,
and the findings in it have been largely addressed," Mr. Steets said.
He said that such internal reports were intended to assess and
improve the performance of the plant's employees, and were not
normally made public.
But Mr. Spano and other officials said that they should have been
informed about this particular report, given their repeatedly voiced
concerns about the safety of Indian Point. Michael Kaplowitz, a
county legislator who has held several hearings on Indian Point this
year, said he was shocked and angry to learn about the report.
"Here all along they've been telling us that it's safe, secure and
vital," he said of Entergy officials. "And frankly, they've been
fibbing
about the security part."
Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said
that the agency's inspectors had reviewed the internal report when it
was completed and that the agency had ordered all nuclear plants,
including Indian Point, to substantially increase their security.
"We've been fully engaged in the security issues there," he said. "We
know there are still some concerns about fatigue on the part of the
security guards, and we're looking at that."
-------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Director, Technical
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
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