[NukeNet] Japanese Nuclear Power Plant Scandals

[Citizens' Nuclear Information Center]

Protest Statement by Citizens' Nuclear Information Center (CNIC)
2 April 2007

Power companies, government not qualified to operate nuclear reactors

On March 30th twelve Japanese electric power companies submitted 
reports to the Minister for Economy Trade and Industry about 
malpractices at their plants. These malpractices included data 
falsification and fabrication, deliberately duping safety inspectors, 
and failure to report problems such as uncontrolled criticality 
incidents at Boiling Water Reactors and emergency shut-downs.

The reports included 306 cases of malpractice. Of those, 97 related to 
nuclear power plants (104 if each incident is counted separately). In 
addition, malpractices which occurred at experimental reactors, such as 
those owned by the government's principal research agency, the Japan 
Atomic Energy Agency, were reported. These included failure to report 
emergency shut-downs and problems with control rods.

When three control rods fell out of position at Hokuriku Electric's 
Shika-1 reactor in 1999, criticality continued uncontrolled for 15 
minutes. In 1978, five rods fell out of position at reactor number 3 of 
Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima I power plant. On that 
occasion criticality continued for seven and a half hours. And in 1998 
34 rods slipped 15 cm out of position at Fukushima I unit 4, although 
the reactor did not reach criticality.

Some of the malpractices breached laws and regulations, while others 
did not, but that does not mean that there is any justification for the 
incidents which were not actually illegal. Rather, it serves to 
illustrate the inadequacy of the regulatory system. The endless 
malpractices revealed in these reports demonstrate once again the 
hollowness of the "safety first" mantra, which has been repeated again 
and again over the years by the management of electric power companies.

Neither the power companies, nor the government are qualified to 
operate nuclear reactors. At the very least, the licenses should be 
revoked for those reactors where criticality incidents were covered up.

Even local and prefectural authorities which hitherto have supported 
nuclear power have expressed outrage and declared that power companies 
which cover up problems and take such a cavalier attitude to safety 
cannot be trusted to implement pluthermal(1). The plutonium-based 
pluthermal program should be canceled immediately. Operation of the 
Rokkasho reprocessing plant should also be canceled immediately. As 
long as active testing of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant continues, 
more and more plutonium is being produced and Japan's breach of its 
promise not to hold surplus plutonium(2) becomes more and more 
egregious.

The malpractices revealed on this occasion are not isolated incidents. 
They are a manifestation of the very nature of the nuclear industry. 
Therefore, Citizens' Nuclear Information Center will continue to devote 
itself to finding answers to the question of how to rid society of the 
curse of nuclear power.

1. Pluthermal refers to using plutonium fuel (mixed uranium-plutonium 
oxide, or MOX fuel) in light water reactors.
2. Japan promised not to hold surplus plutonium in response to 
international concerns about nuclear proliferation. In fact, Japan now 
has over 43 tons of plutonium with no prospect of consuming it.

Contact: Philip White, CNIC International Liaison Officer
+81-3-5330-9520

Citizens' Nuclear Information Center
3F Kotobuki Bdg, 1-58-15, Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0003
Phone: 81-3-5330-9520
Fax: 81-3-5330-9530
http://cnic.jp/english/
cnic at nifty.com