News Flash: Dean says, the stress tests will impose a false sense of nuclear safety

Dean from fukuleaks.org/web slams stress tests conducted in Japan stating they lack the level of review necessary to ensure safety margins at nuclear power plants. If anything Dean says, the stress tests will impose a false sense of nuclear safety on the industry and public which could lead to a lapse in operator awareness which may actually lead to a nuclear accident.

Further, the actual tests comprised a set of “pick and chose” assessment items and then screened to the minimum number which requires very minimal investment

Moreover, the stress tests look at the NPP as in the idea state, with ideal backup systems working to provide defense in depth which clearly is what was proven non existant at FUKU.

From Asahi Shimbun:
“Two advisers to Japan’s nuclear safety agency have slammed stress tests being conducted on idle nuclear reactors, saying they do not guarantee the safety of the facilities and calling into question the impartiality of the U.N. nuclear agency, which approved Japan’s handling of the tests on Jan. 31. Masashi Goto, a former nuclear power plant designer, and Hiromitsu Ino, emeritus professor at the University of Tokyo, who both served as members of an advisory committee to Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) for the stress tests, said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had sent a delegation to merely rubberstamp the process.”

“The tests do not assess aging of plant equipment or other potential causes of accidents, such as fires, plane crashes,tornadoes or lightning. According to Goto, even the scenarios for the two disasters the tests purport to simulate are insufficient. Ino described the stress tests as an “optimistic desk simulation” 
“A false sense of safety” has been the doom of many nuclear operations and causes operators to lower their standards. COMPLACENCY sets in by thinking that “we are good because the stress tests pass’.

The IAEA department that had a hand in the stress tests has a very weak mandate:
http://www-ns.iaea.org/home/ni/dir-ni-message.asp?s=2&l=16

• To enhance the global nuclear safety framework and to ensure appropriate levels of safety throughout the total lifetime of all types of nuclear installations in Member States by ensuring the availability of a consistent, needs-based and up to date set of safety standards, and assistance in their applications;
• To enable Member States seeking to embark on nuclear power production programmes to develop appropriate safety infrastructures through the availability of Agency guidance, assistance and networking; and
• To enable Member States to build improved competence frameworks for the safety of nuclear installations and to enhance their capabilities for capacity building as the foundation for strong safety infrastructure.

This department has no regulatory authority but appears to be more of an advice department.

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