TEPCO Stresses Safety at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Reactor in Press Tour

Tokyo, Dec. 3 (Jiji Press)--Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. on Tuesday opened the No. 6 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant to the press, demonstrating the safety of the unit, which the firm aims to bring back online.

Members of the press were allowed to view the inside of the building of the reactor at the plant in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, and a drill conducted based on lessons from the March 2011 triple meltdown at TEPCO's tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station in northeastern Japan.

The press tour was apparently intended for the company to emphasize that sufficient safety measures are in place at the No. 6 reactor of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, toward the envisaged resumption of its operations.

Last month, Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi announced his intention to tolerate the restart of the No. 6 reactor.

The day's drill was conducted on the assumption that power supplies were lost due to a disaster or other reason, making it impossible to cool a reactor. Participants in the drill confirmed the procedures of pumping water from a reservoir on the plant's premises and cooling water inside the reactor using a heat exchanger.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]