Kobe Steel

October 17, 2017

Source : Simply Info

http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?p=16469

Kobe Steel Scandal May Hit Fukushima Daiichi Fuel Casks, Incinerator

October 17, 2017 Nancy Foust

A data falsification scandal hit Japan’s Kobe Steel in recent weeks. The company admitted widespread falsification of data related to quality control in metals products provided to various customers. Kobe cited a set of copper pipes provided to TEPCO for Fukushima Daiichi as being among of the questionable parts. TEPCO claimed the parts were never actually used. Another report cited the non-used pipes were actually delivered to Fukushima Daini.

Back in 2013 Kobe Steel provided 19 spent fuel storage casks to Fukushima Daiichi. These were used to remove spent fuel from the common pool and then store it in temporary storage facilities up on the hill at the disaster site. While Kobe hasn’t come out to the press and explicitly admitted these casks were part of the data falsification scandal, the company is now admitting it was commonplace and went back decades.  We currently do not know the total number of casks Kobe Steel has provided to Fukushima Daiichi.

If these casks potentially have sub standard steel in them or flawed production practices this could be a considerable problem at the disaster site. If the casks are found now or later on to have structural integrity problems that could lead to cracking or leaks. This would be a very serious risk to safety anywhere near the casks. The concept of dry cask fuel storage is inherently dependent on the integrity of the cask to keep anyone nearby safe and to prevent a dangerous deadly high radiation field.

We are continuing to look to see how many more casks Kobe Steel may have provided to Fukushima Daiichi before or after the disaster. If even the 19 casks already identified need to be pulled out of storage, brought to the common pool, inspected and potentially replaced, this could significantly delay spent fuel removal from the reactors.

Workers and work space related to the spent fuel management are limited. Space in the common pool was expanded in recent years by moving some of the stored fuel in that facility to dry cask storage up on the hill. Requiring that fuel to be brought back to the common pool would cause more storage space to be used. The cask handling area for the common pool is somewhat limited. This area is where each cask would need to be unloaded then inspected in detail to determine any problems with the cask or to facilitate moving the fuel to new storage casks.

Kobe Steel’s construction & fabrication company built the radioactive waste incinerator now in operation at Fukushima Daiichi. So far no admission of the incinerator being involved in the scandal has been explicitly admitted. The facility was recently constructed and went online last year.

If these products provided to Fukushima Daiichi are found to be involved in the falsification scandal it would create problems for the safety oversight of these systems and potential delays as equipment is inspected and possibly replaced. Other safety related systems could potentially be impacted. As of now we do not have other systems at the site that have been identified as being provided by Kobe Steel but they are a key supplier to the nuclear industry in Japan.

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October 14 2017 12:34 AM

As Kobe Steel crisis deepens, cheating engulfs 500 firms

http://www.gulf-times.com/story/567315/As-Kobe-Steel-crisis-deepens-cheating-engulfs-500-

The cheating crisis engulfing Kobe Steel Ltd just got bigger.

Chief executive Hiroya Kawasaki yesterday revealed that about 500 companies had received its falsely certified products, more than double its earlier count, confirming widespread wrongdoing at the steelmaker that has sent a chill along global supply chains.

The scale of the misconduct at Japan’s third-largest steelmaker pummelled its shares as investors, worried about the financial impact and legal fallout, wiped about $1.8bn off its market value this week.

As the company revealed tampering of more products, the crisis has rippled through supply chains across the world in a body blow to Japan’s reputation as a high-quality manufacturing destination.

A contrite Kawasaki told a briefing the firm plans to pay customers’ costs for any affected products.

“There has been no specific requests, but we are prepared to shoulder such costs after consultations,” he said, adding the products with tampered documentation account for about 4% of the sales in the affected businesses.

Yoshihiko Katsukawa, a managing executive officer, told reporters that 500 companies were now known to be affected by the tampering.

Kobe Steel initially said 200 firms were affected when it admitted at the weekend it had falsified data about the quality of aluminium and copper products used in cars, aircraft, space rockets and defence equipment.

Asked if he plans to step down, Kawasaki said: “My biggest task right now is to help our customers make safety checks and to craft prevention 
measures.”

Boeing Co, has some of the falsely certified products, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, while stressing that the world’s biggest maker of passenger jets does not consider the issue a safety problem.

More than 30 non-Japanese customers had been affected by the firm’s data fabrication, the Nikkei newspaper reported yesterday.

A Kobe Steel spokesman said the companies received its products but would not confirm they had any of the falsely certified components.

Nuclear power plant parts are the latest to join the list of affected equipment as Fukushima nuclear operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said yesterday it had taken delivery of pipes from Kobe Steel that were not checked properly.

The pipes were delivered to its Fukushima Daini station, located near the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi plant, but have not been used, Tepco said, adding it was checking all its facilities.

Faulty parts have also been found in Japan’s famous bullet trains that run at speeds as high as around 300 kilometres (180 miles) per hour and a space rocket that was launched in Japan earlier this week.

One bullet train operator has already said it will seek compensation from Kobe Steel.
The government has ordered Kobe Steel to address safety concerns within about two weeks and report on how the misconduct occurred in a month.

No safety issues have yet been identified in the unfolding imbroglio.

Kobe Steel shares fell nearly 9% yesterday and have fallen more than 40% since the scandal broke.

The steelmaker faces a range of legal risks, including compensation sought by clients or their customers, penalties for violating unfair competition laws for false representation, shareholder lawsuits for the fall in the company’s stock price and class lawsuits from overseas customers seeking punitive damages, a lawyer, specialising in corporate laws and risk management, said.

“It is hard to predict the extent of legal costs,” said Motokazu Endo, a lawyer at Tokyo Kasumigaseki law office.

“We cannot rule out the possibility that this will shake Kobe Steel to its foundation.” The company has forecast a profit for the year through March 2018 after two successive annual losses.

Kobe Steel was founded in 1905 and has been a pillar of Japan’s manufacturing sector.

Such are its establishment bona fides that Shinzo Abe, the prime minister and scion of a political dynasty, worked at the company decades ago, before entering politics.
But those credentials have been shattered, a point amplified by CEO Kawasaki who earlier said the credibility of the firm “has plunged to zero.”

Kobe Steel said it was examining possible data falsification going back 10 years – a familiar echo of a string of other cheating scandals involving
Japan Inc.

The corrosive business practices have raised broader questions over corporate governance in Japan, and cast doubt on the integrity of a manufacturing industry once the envy of the world.

Previous cases in Japan involving falsified data included Nissan Motor, Mitsubishi Motors and Takata Corp, which filed for bankruptcy this year over faulty airbags that were blamed for 17 deaths and scores of injuries.

In 2015, it was revealed that Toyo Tire & Rubber fabricated data to secure government approval for materials to absorb shocks from earthquakes.
Conglomerate Toshiba Corp is still battling the fallout of a scandal over reporting inflated profits.

SMBC Nikko Securities said in a note to clients that investors in Kobe Steel face a prolonged period of uncertainty.

“It will likely continue to be extremely difficult to make judgements on creditworthiness and investment until the safety of the products and the extent of damages are clarified.”
 

AREVA and its Japanese partner Kobe Steel deliver the first dry storage casks for spent fuels of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant

http://www.new.areva.com/EN/news-9720/areva-and-its-japanese-partner-kobe-steel-deliver-the-first-dry-storage-casks-for-spent-fuels-of-fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-power-plant.html

Press Release

Storage casks  / Fukushima Daiichi

March 04, 2013

TransNuclear Ltd., a joint-venture between AREVA and Kobe Steel Ltd., has just delivered to Tokyo Electric Power Co., Ltd (TEPCO) the first three metallic casks for the dry storage of spent fuels stored in the common pool of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

TEPCO plans to transfer the spent fuels currently stored in the spent fuel pools of damaged units 1 to 4 to the common pool which did not suffer damages after March 11^th events. This transfer will be made possible thanks to the loading of a number of spent fuels from the common pool into the dry storage casks delivered by TransNuclear Ltd. These casks will then be stored by TEPCO in the cask temporary storage facilities under construction on the site of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The order from TEPCO consists of 11 casks in which a total of 452 spent fuels can be stored. Eight other casks will be delivered to TEPCO in the coming weeks. These deliveries are an important step in the decommissioning process of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

These casks can withstand major natural disasters as proven by the nine similar casks used by TEPCO on the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site at the time of the March 11^th events. This is a new illustration of the very high safety level of the solutions proposed by AREVA to its customers.

With an experience of nearly 50 years, AREVA provides high-performance solutions for interim storage of nuclear materials while guaranteeing the highest level of safety. AREVA is the worldwide reference and the leader of the interim storage market.

About TransNuclear Tokyo Ltd.:
TransNuclear Tokyo Ltd., a joint venture between TN International (AREVA) and Kobe Steel Ltd., is specialized in the supply of casks and transport services for nuclear material and has become a reference in Japan for spent fuel transport and interim storage.

About Kobe Steel Ltd.:
The Kobe Steel Group is one of Japan’s leading manufacturers of materials and machinery. Its machinery businesses include industrial and construction machinery, engineering and environmental solutions. Kobe Steel is putting its manufacturing expertise to work in the nuclear power field by developing “Only One” high-end, original products that make a positive contribution to global society.