[NukeNet] Kashiwazaki-Kariwa: NGOs demand technical info in English

[Citizens' Nuclear Information Center]

Media Release
7 September 2007

Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake - Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant

NGO's demand the IAEA stop misleading the international community and 
TEPCO improve transparency

NGOs today demanded that there be greater international accountability 
from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and that Tokyo 
Electric Power Company (TEPCO) improve its transparency surrounding the 
impact of the Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake on the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear 
Power Plant.

In a letter to the IAEA and TEPCO, Citizens' Nuclear Information 
Center, Green Action, and Greenpeace Japan criticized the IAEA Expert 
Mission to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant for making 
misleading statements about the impact of the earthquake on the plant1. 
They also criticized Philippe Jamet, head of the Expert Mission, for 
saying it would take "months or a year" to put the plant back into 
operation, even though a careful reading of the Expert Mission's 17 
August 2007 report shows that there are strong grounds for believing 
that the plant can never be operated again.

The groups strongly supported the Expert Mission's goal of sharing the 
findings and lessons learned with the international nuclear community. 
However, they pointed out that there is a major barrier to the 
achievement of this goal. That is that Tokyo Electric Power Company 
(TEPCO) does not publish most of its reports in English.

The Citizens' Nuclear Information Center (CNIC) contacted TEPCO to ask 
if it intended to translate a technical report published on its 
Japanese web site on 10 August. TEPCO replied it did not. CNIC then 
took the initiative of translating charts on neutron flux and reactor 
pressure and publishing them on the following page

http://cnic.jp/english/topics/safety/earthquake/kktechreport10aug07.html

The TEPCO report contains key information that will be useful to anyone 
with a technical interest in the impact of the Chuetsu-Oki earthquake.

The groups wrote to TEPCO calling on it to publish on its web site full 
translations of the technical reports relating to the Chuetsu-Oki 
Earthquake which have been published by TEPCO in Japanese. If TEPCO can 
provide such information in English to the IAEA, there is no reason why 
it cannot provide it to a wider audience. Only when sufficient basic 
data is available in English will the international community be able 
to independently analyze the findings and the lessons learned.

Contacts

Philip WHITE, International Liaison Officer, Citizens' Nuclear 
Information Center (Tokyo, Japan)
Phone: 81-3-3357-3800
Email 1: cnic at nifty.com	Email 2: white at cnic.jp

Aileen Mioko SMITH, Director, Green Action (Kyoto, Japan)
Phone: 075-701-7223 / 090-3620-9251 
Email: amsmith at gol.com

Jun HOSHIKAWA, Executive Director, Greenpeace Japan (Tokyo, Japan)
Phone: 81-3-5338-9800
Email: jun.hoshikawa at jp.greenpeace.org

1. Letters to IAEA and TEPCO dated 7 September, 2007 available on the 
following web pages:

http://cnic.jp/english/topics/safety/earthquake/kkiaea7sep07.html

http://cnic.jp/english/topics/safety/earthquake/kktepco7sep07.html