Careless Mistake May Cause World’s Biggest Nuclear Plant to Stay Shut

Another careless mistake has further postponed the restart of the world’s biggest nuclear power plant in Japan which was shut down due to safety lapses. An employee reportedly left some documents on the top of his car and forgot to collect them before driving off. Most of Japan’s nuclear reactors remain shut after the 2011 Fukushima disaster due to safety concerns.

The reopening of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan’s Niigata prefecture was postponed last week due to safety lapses. Now, another mistake seems to have further pushed its reopening. An employee reportedly placed a stack of documents on top of a car but drove off before picking them back up. The documents are now lost.

The nuclear power plant is operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co and this is the latest in a string of mistakes. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority had decided last week to keep a de facto ban on the power station citing inadequate preventative measures.

The first incident of mismanagement or carelessness occurred when some of the papers which were related to dealing with fires and floods were found by a local resident. Tepco is still trying to locate 38 pages that are missing from that document and said that it issued warnings to both the manager and his employee. It said that it will make sure the staff follows stringent rules on taking documents and information off-site.

Nuclear Regulation Authority oversees operations for 33 reactors, most of which have been shut down due to safety concerns since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Vineet Washington