information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
23 Mai 2013
May 23, 2013
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Nuclear Regulation Authority will officially decide May 29 to issue an order effectively prohibiting a restart of the idled Monju prototype fast-breeder nuclear reactor due to a series of problems with safety management, sources close to the authority said Wednesday.
The Japan Atomic Energy Agency, which operates the Monju reactor, told the NRA on Wednesday in a statement that it will not oppose the authority's decision as it "takes the NRA's judgment seriously" and pledges to improve its safety management "as soon as possible."
Under the order, the JAEA, which had aimed to resume the Monju operations by the end of next March, will be barred from engaging in preparatory work for the restart until it rebuilds its maintenance and management system for the facility.
On May 15, the NRA said the JAEA "cannot sufficiently secure the safety of Monju," referring to a delay in planned checkups of a wide range of equipment at the reactor reported last November, and subsequent blunders.
The JAEA has been found to have failed to conduct inspections at appropriate intervals on nearly 10,000 devices at Monju, including those categorized as important for safety.
The NRA looked into the case in detail and determined the agency's "safety culture is deteriorating," given that the agency could not address the problems even though people had been aware of the delayed inspections.
JAEA President Atsuyuki Suzuki has stepped down to take responsibility over the matter.
The Monju reactor has remained largely offline since first achieving criticality in 1994, due to a leakage of sodium coolant and other subsequent problems.
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