TEPCO Passes Exam for Resumption

Nuclear Regulation Authority discussed Wednesday suitability of Tokyo Electric Power Company, which caused unprecedentedly severe accident at First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in East Japan Great Earthquake six years ago, as a corporation dealing with nuclear power generation business. Since there was no opinion denying its suitability, NRA would be going to issue an approval for resumption of the 6^th and 7^th reactors in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant that TEPCO owned in Niigata. It will be the first case for TEPCO to pass the examination after Fukushima accident.

Only two years from the severe accident without firm conclusion on the reason of that disaster, TEPCO filed for resumption of #6 and #7 of reactors in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa to NRA in September 2013. Regarding the submission as a model case for resumption of boiling water reactor, NRA was making deliberate exam. Concerning the fact that TEPCO caused a serious incident, the authority insisted on the suitableness of TEPCO as an operator of nuclear power plant.

In the examination, it was found in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa that liquefaction might happen in the soil, on which seawall would be built, in a great earthquake. In this February, NRA realized that TEPCO had been concealing its finding on the shortage of the important anti-seismic building in earthquake-resistance. NRA let TEPCO submit a report on how it would deal with safety of nuclear power plant or dismantlement of broken Fukushima plant. NRA made two interviews to the President, Tomoaki Kobayakawa. Kobayakawa repeated that he would complete the dismantlement and compensation for the sufferers.

It was strange that NRA changed its attitude in the process of examination of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. Chairman Shun-ichi Tanaka had been rigid in judging whether TEPCO would really be suitable for operating nuclear business. “You are not eligible for resuming Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, if you failed in proving determination and accumulating results for the dismantlement of Fukushima plant,” Tanaka told Kobayakawa in an interview on July 10^th. When Kobayakawa insisted on their job with nestling to the people in Fukushima, Tanaka dismissed it as superficial.

But, Tanaka showed his recognition that it was inevitable for TEPCO not to be able to show concrete determination and results in August. It is supposed that NRA tried to avoid the risk of filing lawsuit from TEPCO.

Even if TEPCO passes NRE exam, it is still unclear when it can resume the reactors in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. TEPCO needs to pass other two exams of NRA and obtain an approval from Governor of Niigata. Governor Ryu-ichi Yoneyama assumes that it will take three or four more years for TEPCO to verify the reason of accident in Fukushima. Resumption of nuclear business is not so easy for a company that caused severe accident.