Press Release (Sep 26, 2013)(Comment)Receipt of the approval from the governor of Niigata Prefecture
September 26, 2013
Tokyo Electric Power Company
President, Naomi Hirose
Today, we obtained the approval of the application from Niigata Prefecture for the regulatory standard compliance examination regarding the filter vent equipments for the Units 6 and 7 of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station.
Therefore, we would like to apply for it to the Nuclear Regulation Authority tomorrow.
We obtained the prior understandings from the mayor of Kashiwazaki City and the mayor of Kariwa Village. We would like to express our sincere appreciation for the governor of Niigata Prefecture, the mayor of Kashiwazaki City, and the mayor of Kariwa Village for their efforts towards the application.
Since the Niigataken Chuetsu-oki Earthquake occurred in July 2007, we have been working through safety measures such as anti-seismic reinforcements and the construction of the seismic isolated building, etc. with utmost efforts at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station.
Furthermore, considering the self-searching and the lessons learned from the accident at Fukushima Daiichi NPS occurred in March 2011, its safety was further enhanced not only by installing seawalls, flood barrier walls and water reservoirs, but also by introducing watertight doors to the reactor/turbine buildings and deploying emergency diesel generator vehicles and power supply cars.
The application for the regulatory standard compliance examination will contribute to the Nuclear Regulatory Authority’s objective evaluation of our facilities and its judgements on whether the measures, which we have self-directly and continuously been implemented, are adapted to the new regulatory standards. We believe this procedure is extremely important to secure both safety and security of the residents at Kashiwazaki City, Kariwa Village and Niigata Prefecture.
Moreover, we recognize that adequate communication is absolutely necessary with the government and the local governments since the filter vent equipments can minimize emissions of granular radioactive materials in case of a serious accident and reduce soil pollutions significantly outside the power plant, and it relates closely to their evacuation plans.
TEPCO will comply with the Safety Agreement and will continue future discussion with Niigata Prefecture and the local governments. Moreover, we will make every effort to improve our delivery of easy-to-understand information.
