IAEA Starts Inspection of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa N-Plant

   Niigata, March 25 (Jiji Press)--A team of investigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency began inspecting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in central Japan on Monday to look into how the plant protects nuclear materials.
   The IAEA's inspection of the nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture run by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., including hearings with staff, will continue until April 2.
   The inspection comes after Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority last December lifted a ban on the plant's operation that had been imposed for its shortcomings related to protection of nuclear materials from terrorism. When the ban was lifted, Japanese industry minister Ken Saito called for an outside evaluation of the plant's antiterror measures.
   The IAEA team told plant officials in a meeting on Monday that they will provide advice to the nuclear plant as needed after the inspection.
   Takeyuki Inagaki, head of the plant, said that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant aims to learn from the IAEA's inspection with humble attitude to make it trusted by locals.

(2024/03/25-17:33)

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