Category 1 means that the operator is expected to make voluntary improvements, while Category 4 means that there is long-term or serious deterioration in the operator’s safety activities. Kashiwazaki Kariwa NPPs used to be classified as Category 4 in the matter of inadequate physical protection of nuclear materials.
Accordingly, NRA withdrew the related order to prohibit transport of specified nuclear materials after approximately two years and eight months.
In December 2017, the NRA reconfirmed that the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), as a party responsible for the Fukushima Daiichi accident, was eligible as an operator to install and operate plants, in addition to granting permission to amend the reactor installations of Kashiwazaki Kariwa -6 and -7 related to assessments on conformity to the new regulatory standards. On December 27, 2023, it then stated that there was no reason to change the previous determination and concluded that the company was “eligible.”
On December 11, 2023, prior to those decisions, NRA Chairman YAMANAKA Shinsuke and Commissioner BAN Nobuhiko had visited the site for inspections, and on December 20, they met with TEPCO’s President KOBAYAKAWA Tomoaki to exchange views and opinions.
The president explained TEPCO’s efforts, such as its seven-item basic principles as a nuclear operator provided in operational safety programs at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa NPPs and its program of behavior observation by the Physical Protection Monitoring Office (PPMO), under his direct supervision.
At a meeting on December 27, the NRA approved a report on additional inspections conducted at Kashiwazaki Kariwa since FY21, taking 4,268 man-hours in total. With those inspections now completed, the NRA is continuing monitoring of TEPCO’s activities for improvement through basic inspections.
At a regular press conference on the same day, Chairman Yamanaka cited improvements to the company’s culture and to company-wide communications as issues from now on, saying, “We are only at the starting line.”
With the announcement by the NRA of the results of its inspections and the change of response classification, TEPCO released a comment on December 27 saying that it would continue to reflect on the accident at Fukushima Daiichi and the lessons learned from it, and would “maintain its voluntary improvement efforts throughout the totality of the company, trying to regain the confidence in itself as a nuclear operator of the people of the local community and of society.”
On December 28, TEPCO released its report on the reevaluation of cause analysis and implementation status of improvement measures pertaining to the unauthorized use of an ID card and the partial loss of function to physical protection equipment at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa NPPs.
