2005年06月23日
text by Martin Frid
On June 22, 2005 Japan Offspring Fund arranged a seminar with an expert on nuclear safety. The seminar focused on safety issues and recent revelations regarding the Hamaoka nuclear reactors in Shizuoka prefecture. Speakers included Konagaya Minoru, Stop Hamaoka Network, Shizuoka prefecture.
On June 22, 2005 Japan Offspring Fund arranged a seminar with an expert on nuclear safety. The seminar focused on safety issues and recent revelations regarding the Hamaoka nuclear reactors in Shizuoka prefecture. Speakers included Konagaya Minoru, Stop Hamaoka Network, Shizuoka prefecture.
On April 22, 2005 a local Shizuoka TV station reported about a police investigation, where the technician responsible for safety designs at the Hamaoka nuclear power plants in Shizuoka prefecture testified why he altered safety data to conceal design flaws. “I had children and there was not enough time”, he said.
33 years ago he worked at Toshiba, which built the reactors for Chubu Electric Power Co. Today, he is 63 years old and lives in Tokyo. He has now admitted falsifying and altering safety testing data related to earthquake tests.
His testimony revealed that when various vibrational tests were performed, data showed that the design could not withstand a major earthquake. Several attempts were made to strengthen the design, but tests still showed problems. In spite of this, the construction went ahead and the building, Hamaoka's second reactor, was completed in 1971.
Based on these tests, an additional three reactors were constructed, including Japan 's largest nuclear plant which generates 1.38 MW. A total of five nuclear reactors are now in the area, which experts say is “the most dangerous nuclear power plant in Japan ”.
During his testimony to the Shizuoka police, the retired technician described how test data was simply pulled out of a report, so that the construction could go ahead. Had the data been made public, there is no way that the reactor could have been built. Now, he accepts responsibility for what he did, and wants the Hamaoka reactors to be shut down. He also says there should be a third-party examination and investigation of the safety concerns. This news has appeared on NHK as well, but there seem to be no reaction from the authorities.
Source: Japan Offspring Fund
http://tabemono.info/english/index.html
33 years ago he worked at Toshiba, which built the reactors for Chubu Electric Power Co. Today, he is 63 years old and lives in Tokyo. He has now admitted falsifying and altering safety testing data related to earthquake tests.
His testimony revealed that when various vibrational tests were performed, data showed that the design could not withstand a major earthquake. Several attempts were made to strengthen the design, but tests still showed problems. In spite of this, the construction went ahead and the building, Hamaoka's second reactor, was completed in 1971.
Based on these tests, an additional three reactors were constructed, including Japan 's largest nuclear plant which generates 1.38 MW. A total of five nuclear reactors are now in the area, which experts say is “the most dangerous nuclear power plant in Japan ”.
During his testimony to the Shizuoka police, the retired technician described how test data was simply pulled out of a report, so that the construction could go ahead. Had the data been made public, there is no way that the reactor could have been built. Now, he accepts responsibility for what he did, and wants the Hamaoka reactors to be shut down. He also says there should be a third-party examination and investigation of the safety concerns. This news has appeared on NHK as well, but there seem to be no reaction from the authorities.
Source: Japan Offspring Fund
http://tabemono.info/english/index.html
(21:59)
