nuclear-news

Japanese nuclear regulators have assessed a security lapse at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture as being at the most serious level in terms of anti-terror measures.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority was notified by the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, in January that a worker accidentally damaged sensor equipment for detecting intruders.

On Tuesday, the result of an investigation of the plant was reported at an NRA closed-door meeting.

The probe found that other sensor equipment may have remained broken since March of last year, making the plant vulnerable to intruders for months.

The NRA revealed that TEPCO employees in charge of security did nothing despite knowing that alternative measures taken were ineffective.

The NRA’s provisional assessment of the security lapse was that it was the most serious on a four-level scale of risks in safeguarding nuclear material.

The authority members plan to consider punishment for the utility as soon as the assessment is finalized.

Last September, another problem took place at the plant. An employee entered the plant’s central control room illegally, using another employee’s ID card.