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A second
fact-finding mission of international nuclear-power
experts to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant in Japan
that shut down after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake in July
2007 confirmed that “there was no significant damage to
parts of the plant important to safety.”
The
International Atomic Energy agency (IAEA) team which had
its mission in late January 2008, however, said in its
68-page findings, published last week, that “no
international regulation or experience” is readily
available to precisely characterize the effects of the
powerful July 18, 2007, earthquake.
“The IAEA
is in a position to provide international expertise to
apply to the event and in so doing international nuclear
power safety standards will benefit,” Philippe Jamet, head
of the IAEA’s Division of Installation Safety and leader
of the mission, said.
The team
added that a continuing review of the impact of the strong
earthquake is likely to influence approaches to the
seismic safety of nuclear power plants worldwide.
The
Niigataken Chuetsu-oki earthquake “very significantly
exceeded” the level of seismic activity for which the
plant, in the coastal prefecture of Niigata, northwest of
Tokyo, was designed, the report said.
The four
reactors in operation at the time in the seven-unit
complex—the world’s largest nuclear power plant—shut down
safely. The report stressed that there was a very small
radioactive release--well below public health and
environmental safety limits.
In order
to understand the earthquake and to assess the possibility
of future earthquakes that may affect the nuclear power
plant, the report said, a large amount of “high-quality”
work has been performed by Japanese experts. They will
have to assemble all the data within a coherent framework
to produce an appropriately conservative seismic
evaluation, said the report.
The
12-member IAEA-led team of international experts who
compiled the report was invited to
Japan
by the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. The
mission was tasked with focusing on seismic safety, the
integrity of the plant and fire safety.
The team
held meetings with regulators, geologists, seismologists
and the operators of the plant, the Tokyo Electric Power
Co. (Tepco). It also visited the plant.
The IAEA,
established as an autonomous organization under the United
Nations in 1957, serves as the world’s foremost
intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical
co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology. | 
