TEPCO's attempt to restart nuclear reactors blocked

Attempts by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) to restart reactors in another nuclear power complex was blocked on Monday by Japan's nuclear regulator which suggested TEPCO to improve its management in crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant first. Katsuhiko Ikeda, secretary general of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), said that the agency will decide whether to go ahead with the safety assessment by checking improvements at the stricken plant, referring to TEPCO's move to restart reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata prefecture. Ikeda's comments came after a meeting between NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka and TEPCO President Naomi Hirose Monday on a series of highly toxic water leaks and other problems at the Daiichi plant, which was badly damaged by a quake-triggered tsunami in March 2011. Ikeda quoted Tanaka as saying that NRA wants TEPCO to take drastic measures to promote situation and respond based on a long- term perspective at the Fukushima plant, according to local media. TEPCO, at the request of the regulator, on Oct. 15 submitted a report that analyzed the leak incidents at the Fukushima plant and presented measures to prevent recurrences, including transferring about 20 staff from Kashiwazaki-Kariwa to Fukushima. But NRA commissioners have expressed doubts about whether the TEPCO's management personnel fully understand the situation faced by workers on site and whether it can ensure the safety of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, according to Japan's Kyodo News.