The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has delivered a Preliminary Summary Report to Japanese officials based on a review of Japan's process for assessing nuclear safety at its nuclear power plants.
On a request from the Japanese government, a ten-member IAEA expert mission completed the review on Tuesday.
During its nine-day mission, the IAEA team held meetings in Tokyo with officials from Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), the Japanese Nuclear Energy Safety Organization and the Kansai Electric Power Company. The experts visited the Ohi Nuclear Power Station to see an example of how Japan's Comprehensive Safety Assessment is being implemented by nuclear operators.
"We concluded that NISA's instructions to power plants and its review process for the Comprehensive Safety Assessments are generally consistent with IAEA Safety Standards," said team leader James Lyons, Director of the IAEA's Nuclear Installation Safety Division.
The team found a number of good practices in Japan's review process and identified some improvements that would enhance the overall effectiveness of that process.
It noted that emergency safety measures were promptly addressed in Japanese nuclear power plants following the accident at Fukushima Daiichi in March last year.
NISA's practice of conducting an independent walkdown of emergency measures implemented at nuclear power plants enhances confidence that plants and operators can respond effectively during an emergency.
By observing European stress tests, NISA is demonstrating its commitment to improve Japanese nuclear safety by gaining experience from other countries, the report says.
The IAEA team recommended that NISA should conduct additional meetings with interested parties near nuclear facilities that are subject to Comprehensive Safety Assessment.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog told Japan that there are areas that NISA could address more thoroughly, such as seismic safety margins and severe accident management. NISA has been asked to ensure that the Secondary Assessments are completed, evaluated and confirmed by regulatory review within an appropriate time-frame.
The expert mission will deliver its complete findings when it provides a final report to Japanese officials in "several weeks," IAEA said in a press release.
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