On June 1, 2012, we found that the outer container of the unused fuel transportation container*1 with 2 unused fuels stored inside was not sealed*2, while Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. (Tokai-mura, Ibaraki Prefecture) was carrying the unused fuels for Unit 1 (transported by Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. on May 30, 2012) into the Reactor Building in our presence.
As a result of (Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. and TEPCO) checking the sealing condition of the inner container of the unused fuel transportation container, the inner container was properly sealed and the 2 unused fuels stored in the inner container were confirmed to be the correct ones that are intended to be transported. (Previously announced on June 1, 2012)
Regarding this matter, verbal instructions from NISA were given to us and Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. to investigate the following.
- Whether or not Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. (which transported the nuclear fuels) properly sealed the container.
- Whether or not the storage management during or after fuel transportation (from Tokai Works of Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. to Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station) was done properly.
In accordance with the instructions, we investigated on the storage management during and after transportation of the unused fuel transportation containers to Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station by interviewing our supervisors and the employees of cooperative companies who were involved in the fuel transportation within the power station site and conducting site investigation. As a result, no factors causing the seal to be intentionally removed or broken after the container was carried inside the power station were found, which led to the conclusion that there was no problem with the storage management during and after fuel transportation within the power station. We have also been reported from Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. that "the transportation container was not sealed in the process of packing" in response to our question about the sealing of the container and the storage management during fuel transportation from Tokai Works of Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. to Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station.
According to the investigation results, we have given a severe warning to Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. and demanded for implementation of recurrence prevention measures as the missing seal on the container is a risk to our safety control/quality control related to the physical protection of nuclear material at our nuclear power station (though the missing seal was due to Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. not sealing the container before delivery).
Today, we have reported to NISA that there was no problem with our storage management during and after the fuel transportation within the power station site.
For further improvement of safety control/quality control, we will conduct periodic external audit of Nuclear Fuel Industries, Ltd. to ensure that recurrence prevention measures are properly implemented.
End
Appendix
"Cause investigation results of the unsealed nuclear fuel transported to Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station (Report)"(PDF 4.64MB)
*1 Unused fuel transportation container: Consists of an outer container and an inner container.
*2 The Regulations for Transport of Nuclear Fuel Material Outside Plants" based on the Nuclear Reactor Regulation Law stipulates that the fuel container must be sealed.
The aforementioned document is available only in Japanese. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.
