Press Release Back Number(2007)

We have verified whether the safety of the power plants is flawed due to incongruous phenomena (hereinafter called "Incongruous Phenomena"), and we have carried out inspections to assess whether there are falsification of data and deficiency and suchlike in the required procedures and other similar problems in relation to the hydraulic, thermal, and nuclear power plants, in accordance with the instructions (the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency Issue No 1 of November 30, 2006) "Concerning the Inspection of Electric Power Plants" received from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

The inspections carried out so far have found about 40 inappropriate incidents*.

However, we did verify that the Incongruous Phenomena did not at present compromise the safety of the nuclear, thermal, and hydraulic power plants.

Our company has implemented countermeasure to prevent thoroughly the recurrence of this kind of incidents.

*Cases: Please refer to 7 (2)

The company has established within the company an "Inspection/Assessment Committee for the Inspection of the Power Generation Plants" (hereinafter called "Committee"), and at the same time, the company hasl established, as a subordinate organ to the Committee, three "Sectional Meetings" (hereinafter called "Sectional Meeting") for each hydraulic, thermal, and nuclear power plant.

The Vice President shall chair the Committee, which shall comprise the Corporate Planning & Strategy Division, Legal Affaires Dept., and Internal Audit Office, to secure transparence and objectivity of the inspection of the plant related departments of the Nuclear Power Dept., Thermal Power Dept., Civil & Architectural Engineering Dept. and Electrical Engineering Dept.

The Internal Audit Office has audited the Committee and Sectional Meetings.

Drawing 1 Inspection Structure

All the power plants, atomic, thermal and hydraulic plants (Refer to Table 1) were the object of the inspection.

Table 1 The number Power Plants Object of the Inspection and Number of Units in Each Power Plant

The survey inspection shall not be limited in time or to a particular item (For example the target law) as to extract comprehensively the Incongruous Phenomena. Concerning data falsification (Measuring Instruments), records and the procedure for each item inspected, we shall enforce close inspection to verify the conditions of the safety maintenance state.

Table 2 shows the approach of the inspection scope.

Table 2 Approach of the Inspection Scope

*1 concerning the hydraulic power plants we have subjected a part of the records to more than what is stipulated by the law.

*2 concerning the atomic power plants, we have subjected them to a longer period (from October 2002) than reported (inspection report concerning the suitability of the security of the autonomous inspection operations of the Hamaoka Atomic Power Plant dated March 19,2003)

Table 3 shows the inspection outline of the daily inspections and inspected items.

Table 3 Outline of the Inspection and Inspected Items

(1) Assessment method of the Results of the Inspection

(2) The Results of the Assessment of the Results of the Inspection

Concerning each incident, we have examined the underlining problem and countermeasures to prevent the recurrence of each incident and assessed their suitability at the Committee,

The content of the countermeasures for prevent the recurrence are described in the Inspection Report Relevant to the Power Plants.

The results carried out so far for the atomic, thermal and hydraulic power plants verify that there are no Incongruous Phenomena, which may have compromised the safety of the power plants. However, the results have verified the facts that, at a certain period, safety problems did materialize based on a part of Incongruous Phenomena carried out in the past.

Our company is engaged sincerely to put a stop to the facts that warranted the Incongruous Phenomena, and to the causes that allowed the existence of such phenomena to materialize and to enforce thoroughly the countermeasures to prevent their recurrence and the company is engaged in continuously improving them.

Moreover, the countermeasures for preventing recurrence described in this report were established to deal with each incident, and the company has collected promptly the mechanism (action plan) of the countermeasures to prevent their recurrence for the whole company and they shall be publicly announced.