Lost documents leave world’s largest nuclear power plant in limbo — RT World News
An employee placed Japan’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility under surveillance after leaving security papers on the roof of a car
The reopening of the world’s largest nuclear power plant, Japan’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant, has been thrown into doubt after an employee working from home lost a stack of documents by leaving them on top of a car.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa was initially closed following the Fukushima disaster in 2011, and Japan’s nuclear watchdog extended the ban on operations earlier this week, citing safety concerns.
In a statement on Monday, the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), revealed that the employee in question lost a stack of papers by placing them on the roof of a car and driving away.
The facility discovered the incident after a local resident discovered some of the documents, which detailed how to deal with the fires and floods. However, 38 pages are still missing.
Tepco said it issued warnings to the employee and a manager, adding that it would enforce strict rules on taking documents and information offsite.
After the Fukushima accident in 2011, the Japanese government decided to take the country’s 54 commercial nuclear power plants offline for maintenance and structural review.
To date, only 10 units have been restarted, and another 18 are expected to resume operations by 2030.
Also on Monday, Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority announced the decision to maintain an effective ban on Kashiwazaki-Kariwa operations. The watchdog stressed that the movement of fuel to the facility will remain prohibited until Tepco demonstrates full compliance with a list of 27 security areas.
While the situation of two of the seven units of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is considered satisfactory, the authorities are concerned about the management of the plant, in particular its safety devices.
According to Japanese news outlet NHK, the regulator flagged lax provisions for anti-terrorism measures as well as unauthorized entry into restricted areas. The watchdog also reportedly pointed to the lack of safety monitoring equipment needed in the event of adverse weather conditions.
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