Monju - Cheating again (2)

 April 11, 2014

More missed inspections found at Monju reactor

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140411_41.html 

Japanese nuclear regulators are investigating more cases of missed inspections at the Monju fast-breeder prototype reactor. It's located in Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan Coast.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority, or NRA, found the lapses during regular safety checks in March.

Officials say at least 9 out of 80 targeted items had not been inspected. These include a temperature gauge and a switch for equipment that powers the secondary cooling pump.

NRA officials also say workers had revised inspection records without taking the required step of informing an in-house panel on more than 240 occasions.

The NRA last year found around 14,000 missed inspections at Monju, including those for critical safety equipment.

Last May, the authority ordered the operator, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, not to prepare for a restart of the reactor until its safety can be established.

In September, the operator reported that it had completed all inspections.

The prototype nuclear reactor has been mostly offline since a coolant leak accident in 1995 and a fuel exchange device was mistakenly dropped into the reactor in 2010.

Apr. 11, 2014 - Updated 11:17 UTC

See also:

Inspection report falsification suspected at Monju fast-breeder

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140411p2g00m0dm036000c.html 

TSURUGA, Japan (Kyodo) -- The operator of the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture is suspected of falsifying its inspection report to regulators as they later found new pieces of equipment that had not been inspected there, Nuclear Regulation Authority sources said Thursday. […]