International Atomic Energy Agencynuclear safety expertscompleted a 14-dayevaluationof operational safety at one of the world's largest nuclear plants, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station in Japan, according to the IAEA's press release Monday.
The Operational Safety Review Team,OSART made recommendations to strengthen some safety measures during the mission, which was held at the invitation of the Japanese Government, the statement said.
Leadership and management, training, operations and operating experience, radiation protection, technical support, emergency preparation and disaster management, are the areas the team addressed inthe review at Kashiwazaki-Kariwawhose overall aim isto improve operational safety,according to the statement.
The team made a number of recommendations for improvementat the plant, including proposing that "systems collating data should be integrated, and the information collected through them should be used more proactively to enable the plant to exchange lessons with the rest of the nuclear industry," said the release.
The team advised thatdisaster management should cover all plant conditions, including potential events involving the spent fuel pools, and suggested that the station’s emergency plans should be fully integrated and documented in a way that is clear, accessible and easy to use.
According to IAEA, the team handed a draft of their recommendations, suggestions and good practices to the management of the station, which is operated byTokyo Electric Power,TEPCO.
The draft and any factual comments made by the station management will be reviewed at the IAEA headquarters and a final report will be delivered within three months to the station and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
The team consists of 10 experts from Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Sweden, Slovakia, the U.K. and the U.S. as well as two officials from the IAEA.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station began operations in September 1985. The stationis located in Niigata Prefecture, approximately 220 kilometers northwest of Tokyo along the coast of the Sea of Japan.
"In 1997 all seven units were in commercial operation with a total capacity of 8,212 megawatts, and as a result, this power station became the largest nuclear power station in capacity in the world," Japanese energy company, TEPCO said.
(Anadolu Agency)
