Plant makes its own rule for temporary storage of radioactive materials

November 2, 2015

Possible violation in radioactive waste storage

Nov. 2, 2015 - Updated 12:15 UTC+1

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

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority secretariat has found the operator of a uranium enrichment plant in Aomori Prefecture stored radioactive waste in a location that violated safety regulations. The plant enriches uranium for nuclear power generation.

The Secretariat of the NRA is expected to ask Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited to remedy the situation.

The secretariat says the violation was discovered in August during an inspection of the plant in northeastern Japan.

It says the operator has been storing low-level radioactive waste temporarily in a room near equipment used to produce enriched uranium. The secretariat says the location is in violation of safety regulations.

The operator later moves the waste to a location that meets safety regulations.

But the secretariat says the temporary storage place is in violation of regulations. It is expected to ask the operator to correct the situation.

Officials at Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited say the plant made its own rules for temporary storage. They say there have been no leaks of radioactive substances.

The officials say they will store the waste in a proper way in the future.