The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday decided to issue a corrective action order to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc., following the discovery of serious flaws in the anti-terrorism equipment used to detect intruders at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.
The order is based on the Law on the Regulation of Nuclear Source Material, Nuclear Fuel Material and Reactors, and will prohibit TEPCO from transferring nuclear fuel. The NRA, which made the decision at a regular meeting Wednesday, took seriously the fact that for a long period of time a third party could have illegally entered the plant.
This is the first time for a corrective action order to be issued since the NRA was established in 2012. It will notify TEPCO of the details, and give the power company an opportunity to explain itself before making a formal decision.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant has seven reactors, all of which are currently shut down. It was found that of the 16 defective points in the anti-terrorism equipment, 10 had not been functioning for more than 30 days. The plant was rated "red," the most serious of four levels for the security of nuclear materials.
In addition to the order, the NRA has also told TEPCO to report by Sept. 23 on its measures to prevent a recurrence of similar failures. After receiving the report, the NRA will conduct additional inspections for a total of 2,000 hours to check the improvement measures. They are expected to take more than a year.
The NRA will also deal with the issue of an employee improperly entering the central control room with another person's ID card in September last year, which was revealed in an investigation by The Yomiuri Shimbun.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is one of the world's largest nuclear plants, with a total power generation of 8.212 million kilowatts. Its No. 6 and 7 reactors passed safety assessments by the NRA in December 2017.
As for reactors No. 1 to 5, TEPCO has hinted the possibility of demolishing some of them.
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