TEPCO; 171 Past Due Inspections The Month Before The Disaster

Just over a month before the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi TEPCO was in trouble with METI for not doing timely equipment inspections. TEPCO is required to periodically inspect various pieces of equipment at their aging reactor facilities. METI’s records show an ongoing failure to accomplish the task of inspections that were only completed after repeated admonishment by the agency.

Kashiwazaki alone had 117 past due inspections. There were 171 pieces of equipment that went un-inspected between TEPCO’s 3 nuclear power plant complexes. METI gave TEPCO until the 28th of February to complete these routine inspections. Under increasing pressure TEPCO managed to complete some of them by the time demanded by METI. This was after the inspections being past due and repeated requests from METI to get them done. What is more concerning is many of these inspections involved key components of reactor systems.

The series of documents from METI showed an ongoing an extensive admonishment for not maintaining an inspection system to assure these were done. The frustration from METI is clear even with the translation. TEPCO had an ongoing disregard for the safety oversight system.

METI notification on 2nd
METI report on 28th
METI notification on 28th
METI Feb 31st – Asks TEPCO to submit by June 2nd on why they failed to meet their inspection schedule requirements
METI Feb 31st press release

The list below is based on a translation of the original document.

Kashiwazaki past due inspections: (from 28th METI report)
117 total (258 according to details)
Unit 1: 33 electrical equipment
Unit 2: 45 electrical equipment
Unit 3: 77 equipment
Unit 4: 30 equipment
Unit 5: 38 equipment
Unit 6: 1 device
Shared: 34 equipment

Fukushima Daiichi past due inspections (From 28th METI report)
33 total
Unit 1:  recirculation pump
Unit 2:  3 devices reactor water port
Unit 3:  5 total devices such as oil separator extractor pump for gas turbine
Unit 4:  two emergency diesel seawater cooling pumps
Unit 5:  3 devices, one being recirculation generator motor conditioner
also at 5, 11 devices including switching equipment, oil cooler valve, 2 reactor feed pump drive turbines
Unit 6:  6 devices including electrical equipment, valves for residual heat removal system
16 items had been inspected by the report issuance, 15 remaining, remaining outstanding

Fukushima Daini past due inspections (From 28th METI report)
21 total
Unit 1: exhaust file
Unit 2: high voltage cable for auxiliary electric water pump seal “storage”
Unit 3: 4 instrument equipment for emergency diesel engines (lubricating oil cooler etc)
Unit 4: residual heat removal pump motor(s)
20 were inspected by end of report.
Unit 2 turbine driven feedwater pumps exhaust valves were also mentioned as

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