Press Release
Emergency Safety Measures at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station (Report Concerning Directions from Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry)
April 20, 2011
Chubu Electric Power Co.,Inc.
This is to announce that Chubu Electric Power today submitted a report to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency as based on directions from the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry*1 concerning emergency safety measures at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station in consideration of the damage done to nuclear power stations by the Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake of March 11, 2011.
The report will hereafter undergo a check and evaluation by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
Chubu Electric Power will continue to collect information and promptly take any necessary measures.
1. Content of directions from Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
Nuclear power station operators have been instructed to take emergency safety measures that will allow them to prevent damage to their nuclear reactor cores and spent fuel, control releases of radioactive materials and restore reactor facilities' cooling function, even in the event that a tsunami causes loss of [1] function of all equipment that supplies AC power, [2] function of all equipment that uses seawater to cool reactor facilities, and [3] function of all equipment that cools spent fuel storage pools.
2. Content of Chubu Electric Power's emergency safety measures
Chubu Electric Power has taken the following emergency safety measures.
(1) Conduct urgent inspections (completed April 18, 2011)
We conducted emergency inspections of machinery and equipment used to respond to emergency situations caused by tsunami, and confirmed that there were no irregularities.
Additionally, to prevent any tsunami from entering the reactor buildings, we checked the soundness of the waterproofing function of through-ways, doors, etc. in the outer walls of the buildings, and confirmed that there were no irregularities.
(2) Inspect emergency response plan (completed April 20, 2011)
To provide the means to respond to emergencies, our internal rules now govern [1] the establishment of plans, [2] the posting of personnel, [3] training, [4] placement of materials and equipment, and [5] periodic evaluation and necessary measures, and we have established the following specific procedures for reliably carrying out our emergency response.
- Procedures for supplying power to rechargeable batteries and water pumps with emergency generators*2
- Procedures for ensuring water supply with portable power pumps, etc.
- Alternative water injection procedures to enable continued injection of water to reactor if not possible with the reactor isolation cooling system
- Procedures for operating vents of reactor containment vessel in case of loss of all AC power
- Alternative water injection procedures to enable continued injection of water to spent fuel storage pools, etc.
(3) Secure power for emergencies (completed April 19, 2011)
Emergency generators, power cables, etc. have been put in place according to the established standards.
Along with this, generator vehicles that had been positioned at the power station have been repositioned at customer service offices.
(4) Secure a final heat-removal function for emergencies (April 19, 2011)
- Materials and equipment such as portable power pumps and hoses necessary for injecting water into the reactor have been put in place according to the established procedures.
- Materials and equipment such as nitrogen cylinders have been put in place in order to operate reactor containment vessel vents promptly, even in case of loss of all AC power, according to the established procedures.
(5) Secure ability to cool spent fuel pools in emergencies (completed April 19, 2011)
- Materials and equipment such as portable power pumps [also used for (4)] have been put in place according to the established procedures.
(6) Other voluntarily implemented measures (completed April 19, 2011)
- We have established procedures for securing spare electric motors and exchanging them in case the motors of seawater pumps are exposed to water by tsunami and their function lost, so that the motors' function can be restored promptly.
- We have put in place temporary pumps and established fuel transfer procedures, etc. in case a tsunami causes the loss of function of fuel transfer pumps of emergency diesel generators kept outdoors.
- We have put heavy equipment (wheel-loader) in place for debris removal.
(7) Conduct drills based on emergency response plan (completed April 19, 2011)
Using the response procedures and materials and equipment as established in the emergency response plan, we conducted emergency response drills that anticipated simultaneous tsunami damage to Reactors No. 1-5 (including individual drills). The plan's effectiveness was confirmed and evaluated and necessary improvements were made.
We will continue to conduct drills regularly.
3. Future measures
Chubu Electric Power will continuously verify the effectiveness of the recently established emergency safety measures and enhance our ability to respond to emergencies. In addition to the above emergency safety measures, we will increase the tsunami tolerance of existing equipment through reinforcement, positioning of necessary equipment, etc.
(1) Measure to keep tsunami from entering station
- Build breakwater on the seaward side of the power station (preparatory construction work begun April 05, 2011)
(2) Measures anticipating tsunami entering station
- Build breakwater in the seawater pump area (construction work begun April 05, 2011)
- Enhance reliability of waterproof doors
- Place emergency AC power equipment on higher ground
(3) Countermeasures to emergency conditions
- Secure spare storage batteries
- Secure spare equipment for emergency core cooling system, etc.
- Put emergency materials and equipment storehouse in place
*1 "Directions of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry" refers to "Regarding the Implementation of Emergency Safety Measures for the Other Nuclear Power Stations considering the Accident of Fukushima Dai-ichi and Dai-ni Nuclear Power Stations in 2011 (Directions)" (March 28, 2011/Nuclear Number 7), issued March 30, 2011 by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
*2 Concerning the term "emergency generators," until now Chubu Electric Power has referred to "portable generators" in our announcements, but since these generators have now been permanently placed on the roof of the second floor of reactor buildings (to better enable them to be mobilized, among other reasons), we now refer to them as emergency generators.