TEPCO Confirms Meltdowns At 2 More Fukushima Reactors

[Cheryl Nelson]

http://news.mobile.msn.com/en-us/article_wld.aspx?aid=43145372&afid=1

[desertrose]

(JAPAN) Genkai Nuclear Power Plant Has Serious Data Input Errors July 23, 2011

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IunN7cJPZow

 

Errors in nuclear plant data highlight checking system insufficiencies

The discovery of errors in data incorporated in a report on the No. 3 reactor at the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant in Saga Prefecture illustrates problems with its operator's checking system and the government regulator's ability to examine safety data.

Ironically, the errors came to light on July 6, the very day Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced that the government would conduct "stress tests" on all nuclear reactors across the country.

The errors will adversely affect the operations of all nuclear power stations across the country, casting a damper on the planned stress tests from the outset.

"I'm deeply sorry. I take it seriously that the mistake has been pointed out," Kyushu Electric Power Co. Vice President Haruyoshi Yamamoto said July 22 as he visited top officials of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA).

The errors have dealt another serious blow to the utility, which is already under fire for urging employees and subsidiaries to pose as members of the general public and send e-mail comments to a TV program on the power station in favor of reactivating reactors stopped for regular inspections.

A division director-level official with NISA attributes the errors to carelessness on the part of Kyushu Electric workers. However, the safety of containment and pressure vessels and other key devices in nuclear reactors is evaluated based on data on reactor buildings, and no mistakes involving such data can be permitted.

The discovery of the errors has forced the utility to redo the calculation of the quake resistance of reactor buildings at the Genkai power station. It has also prompted NISA to instruct power suppliers to examine the data on all of their nuclear power plants out of fear that such mistakes could occur at any power station.

In addition, the finding has highlighted problems involving NISA's system to examine data on the safety of nuclear reactors. Two years passed before the errors were found in the report, which Kyushu Electric Power had submitted in 2009. Moreover, the errors were discovered by a semi-governmental organization which NISA had commissioned to re-examine the report, and not NISA itself.

Goshi Hosono, state minister for the nuclear crisis, is aiming to separate NISA from its parent body, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, which is promoting nuclear power generation in Japan. However, structural changes alone are insufficient. Whether NISA can function as a nuclear safety regulator will be severely tested. (By Takuji Nakanishi, Mainichi Shimbun)

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110723p2a00m0na015000c.html

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