Don't be "stingy" (with safety)

March 21, 2014

Regulator urges TEPCO not to be 'stingy' with safety investment

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140321p2g00m0dm005000c.html 

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Nuclear Regulation Authority urged ailing Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Thursday not to be "stingy" with money in its efforts to ensure the stability of the accident-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

"Please do not be stingy with investment in the Fukushima plant. It may be difficult to do so because the facilities do not generate profits, but the handling of the plant should be TEPCO's top priority," NRA Commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa said during a meeting with TEPCO President Naomi Hirose and other senior officials.

The meeting, also attended by NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka, was held shortly after TEPCO found its key water treatment system not working properly, the latest in a series of problems at the plant.

To make matters worse, the toxic water, without seeing its radiation level drop, flowed into 21 tanks that have already been keeping treated water, and got mixed.

Fuketa said "insufficient investment in equipment" could be one of the reasons that led to such contamination of treated water.

Hirose told reporters later that TEPCO has "never intended to be stingy," but also said, "There are things that we regret not having done."

During the meeting, TEPCO also said it plans to reduce the air radiation level of the plant site, except for areas around the highly contaminated Nos. 1 to 4 reactor buildings, to an average 5 microsieverts per hour by the end of fiscal 2015.

The target has been set to create a better working environment at the plant, where some 4,000 people are working per day.

TEPCO expects the decommissioning process of the Nos. 1 to 4 units to take up to 40 years or so. The company is also struggling to manage the buildup of toxic water, which is increasing daily in the process of keeping the crippled Nos. 1 to 3 reactors cool.

March 21, 2014(Mainichi Japan)