Events
By Japanese law (and other countries have similar reporting), utilities operating nuclear plants must report certain kinds of events (power excursions, high dose to a worker, or accidents) to the NISA and METI. Some of the events listed below didn't necessarily fit this category but TEPCO decided to officially report them anyway.
- In May 2000, Unit 6 had to be shut down as a precautionary measure when increased concentrations of Iodine were detected in the coolant loop.
- On June 12, 2004, the vacuum in the condenser in Unit 1 began to decrease. The operators reduced power, and the condenser pressure stabilized so the unit was run at the lower power of 800 MW for some time.
- On February 4, 2005, Unit 1 was manually shut down due to leakage of steam in the lower floor of the turbine room.
- On July 3, 2005, the Unit 5 reactor tripped by a turbine trip caused by a decreased vacuum in the condenser (turbine trip occurs to protect the turbine).
- On May 26, 2006, TEPCO and the Chūbu Electric Power Company submitted a report about cracking in the hafnium control blades.
- On July 12, 2006, it was discovered that a worker was exposed to radiation above the 0.8 millisievert legal limit in one day, receiving 1.03 millisieverts.
- On July 16, 2007, the 2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake caused severe damage to parts of the plant, resulting in small radioactive releases, complete shutdown and seismic upgrades.
- On September 20, 2007, a temporary air conditioner on the roof of the plant caught fire, but there was no danger of a radioactive leak.
- On May 22, 2008, TEPCO announced that earthquake resistance standards needed to be increased by a factor of five and work to reinforce the reactors would begin in June.
- On August 5, 2011, in the afternoon the output of reactor 1 was reduced, and the next day the reactor would stop completely. This was done for a 2-month inspection. It was the first reactor run by TEPCO, to undergo an inspection since the nuclear accident at the Fukushima. Another reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant was scheduled for a regular inspection late August 2011. Niigata Governor Hirohiko Izumida said, that he won't give permission for any restart of a reactor, before the cause of the accident at the Fukushima plant would be revealed.
- On 22 August 2011 reactor nr.7 was taken offline for regular inspections. The normal time for this checkup was about 3 months.
- On 9 September 2011 TEPCO started with stress-tests to confirm the safety of two of its idle nuclear reactors. A computer-simulation was to used to confirm the reactors' earthquake and tsunami resistance. This test was introduced after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima-accident. All reactors in Japan needed to pass this test after their normal regular inspections before they were allowed to resume operation. The Governor of Niigata Hirohiko Izumida said that he would not take any decision about a restart before the Fukushima accident would be properly assessed.
- On 12 July 2012 in order to block all attempts to reactivate any nuclear reactor of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant three plaintiffs, including two nuclear crisis evacuees, demanded during the first oral proceedings of a law suit at the Niigata District court, that the plant should be closed for ever. The lawsuit was filed by 132 people from six prefectures, between them 13 evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture. TEPCO asked the court in a written reply to reject the case. Tha plaintiffs agued that the disaster in Fukushima, that contaminated their hometowns, was described as "man-made". According to them, nuclear plants, which could cause unpredictable damage, should not be constructed, and "(TEPCO) should realize that it is going to pass this bitter legacy on to the future." They argued also, that TEPCO had neither the qualifications nor capability to operate and manage nuclear plants, and that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant was "built in an extremely dangerous place." The lawsuit was the first, that tries to shutdown a nuclear reactor operated by TEPCO since the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011.
Read more about this topic: Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant
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