7 September 2007

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant
NGO Letter to IAEA

Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake - Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant
NGO�fs demand the IAEA stop misleading the international community and TEPCO improve transparency

NGOs today demanded that there be greater international accountability from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) improve its transparency surrounding the impact of the Chuetsu-Oki Earthquake on the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant.

In a letter to the IAEA and TEPCO, Citizens�f Nuclear Information Center, Green Action, and Greenpeace Japan criticized the IAEA Expert Mission to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant for making misleading statements about the impact of the earthquake on the plant1. They also criticized Philippe Jamet, head of the Expert Mission, for saying it would take "months or a year" to put the plant back into operation, even though a careful reading of the Expert Mission�fs 17 August 2007 report shows that there are strong grounds for believing that the plant can never be operated again.

The groups strongly supported the Expert Mission�fs goal of sharing the findings and lessons learned with the international nuclear community. However, they pointed out that there is a major barrier to the achievement of this goal. That is that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) does not publish most of its reports in English.

The Citizens�f Nuclear Information Center (CNIC) contacted TEPCO to ask if it intended to translate a technical report published on its Japanese web site on 10 August. TEPCO replied it did not. CNIC then took the initiative of translating charts on neutron flux and reactor pressure and publishing them on the following page Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Technical Report (CNIC site)

The TEPCO report contains key information that will be useful to anyone with a technical interest in the impact of the Chuetsu-Oki earthquake.

Citizens' Nuclear Information Center (CNIC)
Akebonobashi Co-op 2F-B, 8-5 Sumiyoshi-cho,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 162-0065, Japan
Phone: +81 3 3357 3800

Greenpeace Japan
N F bldg. 2F 8-13-11 Nishi-Shinjuku
Shinjuku, Tokyo, 160-0023, Japan
Phone: +81 3 5338 9800

Green Action
Suite 103, 22-75, Tanaka Sekiden-cho
Sakyo-ku Kyoto, 606-8203, Japan
Phone: +81 75 701 7223

Letter to IAEA (CNIC site)
Letter to TEPCO