Report on the findings of the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee to the Board of TEPCO on the progress of the Nuclear Safety Reform Plan

At the fourth Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee meeting held today, TEPCO’s Nuclear Reform Special Task Force briefed attendees on the state of progress of the “Reassessment of Fukushima Nuclear Accident and Nuclear Safety Reform Plan” (the “Reform Plan”). The current implementation status of the Reform Plan was confirmed as per the below.

• Initiatives commenced include senior management training in nuclear safety, and discussions among executive managers at nuclear power stations to enhance drastically their safety awareness.
• In order that all employees fully understand the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi Accident and the necessity of reform, and to ensure that reforms continue to be sustained and strengthened in the future, group discussions on the Reform Plan have been instituted, initially among managers of nuclear operational and engineering functions.
• The “Nuclear Safety Oversight Office” was established in May. It is headed by Dr. John Crofts, former Director of Assurance covering safety at the UKAEA (United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority). Activities commenced by the Nuclear Safety Oversight Office include team building to maximize team member performance, and the attending of various committee meetings to confirm whether nuclear safety is discussed as an overriding priority.
• Periodic external assessments utilizing third parties such as the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), INPO (Institute of Nuclear Power Operators), and WANO (World Association of Nuclear Operators), are scheduled in order to gain an objective understanding of the state of safety culture permeation across TEPCO.
• The “Social Communication Office” was established in April to promote information disclosure attuned to the way that society views social communication, and to enable the provision of dialogue via Risk Communicators.
• At the Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Station (hereinafter referred to as “Kashiwazaki Kariwa”), steady progress is being made in the implementation of facility improvements to the physical infrastructure (including countermeasures against tsunamis, securing cooling/heat removal functions, installing filtered vent facilities), based on the lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (hereinafter referred to as “Fukushima Daiichi”) Accident. Disaster drills are being repeatedly conducted in order to improve drastically emergency preparedness. Problem issues are highlighted and continuous improvements implemented.

Unprecedented decommissioning work is in progress at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and various difficulties, such as the occurrence of certain incidents or trouble, must be confronted. Under these circumstances, the “Emergency Response Headquarters for Reliability Improvement at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station”, headed by the President of TEPCO, was established. The Headquarters is working towards the development and swift introduction of countermeasures to sustain and reinforce the state of stability.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that TEPCO must strive further to accelerate the implementation and enhance the effectiveness of the Reform Plan, in consideration of measures to rectify the recent contaminated water leaks, and reflecting upon the occurrences of incidents and trouble over the past quarter.Based upon this viewpoint, the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee proposes the following initiatives.

• TEPCO shall promptly implement the necessary measures to rectify the issue of contaminated water leaks at Fukushima Daiichi
• TEPCO shall, in coordination with host communities and the national government, compile a comprehensive plan that would lead to fundamental solutions and not tactical countermeasures in addressing contaminated water at Fukushima Daiichi.
• TEPCO shall promptly and flexibly conduct the necessary organizational restructuring and allocate, amongst other things, the required human resources to accelerate progress and enhance the effectiveness of reforms, including those with respect to the above water leak issues.
• When conducting risk communication in the event of accident or trouble, TEPCO shall strengthen the function of its Risk Communicators and Social Communication Office to disclose information in an appropriate and timely fashion along with drastically improving communication and sharing of information within TEPCO. It shall explain risks to the public in an easy to understand manner, using examples of precedents where appropriate.
• TEPCO shall appropriately utilize the knowledge of external experts and refer to other advanced examples of social communication and risk communication.
• TEPCO shall minimize the overall risks in realizing the smooth progress of decommissioning work at Fukushima Daiichi, by striving ceaselessly for technological capability enhancements. It shall also collaborate and engage in dialogue with host communities/municipalities and the national government.
• Once future decision-making items for senior management and assigned roles for corporate headquarters in external correspondence have been defined, based on issues identified in the emergency drills at Kashiwazaki Kariwa, TEPCO shall take concrete steps towards the conducting of joint training with external counterparts. Such counterparts would include the Kantei (the office of the Prime Minister of Japan and His Cabinet), the Nuclear Regulation Authority, local municipalities, the police, and the Self Defense Forces.
• TEPCO will continue to monitor the progress of each nuclear safety reform target, and will report the status of progress and implementation of each target to this committee as appropriate.

The Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee will review the state of progress of TEPCO’s Reform Plan at regular intervals, and will continue to publish its findings.