TEPCO, poor management and repeated leaks

 February 25, 2014

TEPCO criticized for poor water management that led to 100-ton leak

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140225p2g00m0dm035000c.html 

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Nuclear regulators on Monday criticized that Tokyo Electric Power Co. may have been able to minimize the 100 tons of toxic water leak from a tank at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex if its water management was sound.

The direct cause of the incident was a wrong valve setting, which led toxic water to be injected into the tank that was nearly full. But Nuclear Regulation Authority Commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa said the plant should have been managed so that leaks are prevented even if valves are controlled erroneously.

TEPCO admitted during a meeting with regulators and experts on Monday that workers at a control room had not been paying much attention to the data of the water level filling the tanks that should have been receiving the toxic water.

"The water transfer operation to a tank area called 'E' started from Feb. 17 and it was going smoothly after that. So the monitoring activities became lax (during the time the wrong tank in the 'H6' area was receiving water)," one of the TEPCO officials said.

But Fuketa criticized, "The failure of checking the water level of the tanks that should have been receiving water was a problem from the viewpoint of preventing the situation from worsening."

According to TEPCO, the water level of the E area tanks was basically flat, even though a pump to send radioactive water was operating.

Meanwhile, an alarm warning of a rise in water level in the H6 area tank was issued Wednesday afternoon, but workers judged that the water-level gauge malfunctioned because of the irregular readings it started to show afterward.

Another NRA official said, "I think it's not right to blame machines (without thorough consideration) when something difficult to understand occurs."

More than nine hours after the alarm went off, workers noticed that the tank in the H6 area was overflowing water.

 February 24, 2014

 TEPCO official: Change of culture needed

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140224_38.html 

A senior official of Tokyo Electric Power Company has apologized for the repeated leaks of contaminated water from tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

TEPCO Managing Executive Officer Takafumi Anegawa was speaking to reporters on Monday after Japan's nuclear regulators criticized the operator for the latest massive leak.

Anegawa said he thinks a change in corporate culture is needed to avoid such repeated mistakes. He said he understands the problems and that he will do his best to improve the management, but that this takes time.

Feb. 24, 2014 - Updated 12:04 UTC

Nuclear regulators criticize tainted water leak

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140224_27.html 

Japan's nuclear regulators have criticized the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for failing to prevent massive leakage of highly radioactive water.

Tokyo Electric Power Company announced last Thursday that 100 tons of water containing record high levels of radioactive substances had overflowed from a storage tank near the No. 4 reactor building.

Company officials on Monday briefed experts of the Nuclear Regulation Authority that the leakage occurred when valves that should have been closed were left open. This allowed tainted water to enter the tank that overflowed. They reported that workers have not been sufficiently monitoring the levels of water inside the tank.

NRA official Toyoshi Fuketa said that water gauges, alarms and other devices have been in place to prevent water leaks but they were not functional.

He asked TEPCO officials to take thorough measures to ensure these devices will fully work.

Another official asked the utility to investigate if there were mishaps by workers. When work to attach number plates on the valves was ongoing, the valves may have been opened.

Feb. 24, 2014 - Updated 10:53 UTC

Govt. to ensure TEPCO reviews steps against leaks

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140224_18.html 

The Japanese government says the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant needs to review its measures to prevent radioactive water leaks.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga spoke to reporters on Monday after it was revealed that about 100 tons of highly radioactive water had leaked from a tank near the No. 4 reactor building last week.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has been conducting an in-house investigation to determine whether the leak occurred because someone left valves open. It has been interviewing workers at the plant.

Suga said the leak has stopped and the water had not reached the ocean because no spillways near the tank lead to the sea.

But he said TEPCO should collect the leaked water and contaminated soil.

Suga also said that to prevent similar accidents, the company needs to review its measures based on the tough working environment at the plant and rebuild its organizational structure.

He said the government will try to ensure that TEPCO implements steps to prevent problems, including those resulting from human error.

Feb. 24, 2014 - Updated 05:27 UTC