IAEA team at Kashiwazaki Kariwa

 January 7, 2015

IAEA to send experts to Kashiwazaki Kariwa n-plant

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html

Jan. 7, 2015 - Updated 18:03 UTC+1

The UN nuclear agency says it will send a team of experts this year to the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast of central Japan.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano reportedly told Japan's industry Minister Yoichi Miyazawa of the plan when they met on Wednesday in Tokyo.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of Kashiwazaki Kariwa, had asked the IAEA to send its team to the plant at the request of the government.

Outside experts will join the IAEA team.
The team will look into the 6th and 7th reactors at the plant.

They will assess the safety measures that have been taken at the plant after the accident at Fukushima Daiichi four years ago. Those measures include raising the height of embankments and organizational reforms. They will assess the measures using international standards.

In Japan, this kind of investigation was carried out in the past at several plants, including the Kashiwazaki Kariwa power plant and the Mihama power plant in Fukui Prefecture.

The upcoming investigation is the first to be conducted in the country after the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi.

The IAEA and TEPCO are to discuss when the team will be dispatched.

The utility hopes to restart the Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant's 6th and 7th reactors after the ongoing safety examination by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority. It is still unclear when the examination will end.

Adding to this uncertainty, Niigata Governor Hirohiko Izumida is critical of TEPCO for its reluctance to have a thorough examination of the accident at Fukushima Daiichi.