Shortcomings in nuclear safety assessment found

The organization in charge of assessing the safety of Japan's nuclear plants has admitted it allowed nuclear fuel rods to pass quality checks using a faulty manual.

The manual was borrowed from the Japanese manufacturer of the rods.

The Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization conducted the checks in 2008 on 4 sets of fuel rods for reactors.

The government-backed organization says it approved 3 of the 4 sets even though the manual said the rods were 3 to 5 centimeters shorter than the actual length of 4 meters.

It says the examiners failed to notice the mistakes as they did not closely check the manual beforehand.

Industry watchdog, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, says it will order the organization to correct these shortcomings and improve its screening procedures.

Thursday, November 03, 2011 02:44 +0900 (JST)