Japan’s nuclear regulators have urged Tokyo Electric Power Company to take more effective measures to prevent problems and security lapses at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The power station suffered a triple meltdown due to the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.
Fukushima Daiichi has experienced a series of problems since last autumn. In one incident, workers were accidentally splashed with liquid containing a radioactive substance.
At Tuesday’s meeting of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, two problems were highlighted.
One issue was the operation of the fire alarm at a waste incineration facility in February, and the other was the power outage in April caused by damage to an underground cable. Both issues could be violations of TEPCO’s work rules and safety measures.
The utility has since conducted a general inspection of the plant from May through June, and reported the results.
The company concluded that insufficient risk assessment and study of safety measures, as well as a lack of information-sharing with contractors led to the trouble.
The authority’s secretariat stated that the utility’s preventive measures, such as its reviews of in-house education and work procedures, have been ineffective. It called for the company to boost the efficacy of its measures.
Representatives from local business groups also attended Tuesday’s meeting.
One participant complained that at every meeting a new problem is announced. They asked the power company not to make any more mistakes.
Another said Tokyo Electric’s corporate nature has not changed even though 13 years have passed since the nuclear disaster.