Mihama Nuclear Power Plant

The phased shutdown began the day after the country's second-largest utility had been ordered by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to review inspection records of cooling pipes and check for signs of corrosion at its nuclear plants.

Government investigators meanwhile launched a probe Aug. 13 at the Mihama plant, where four people were killed and seven injured when a pipe burst, spewing superheated steam on workers.

Kepco acknowledged Aug. 10 that the ruptured cooling pipe that caused the deaths had not been thoroughly checked, despite a warning from a subcontractor last year that it posed a danger. Earlier reports said the section of pipe that burst was corroded and had not been checked since the reactor started up in 1976.

The Japan Times Weekly: Aug. 21, 2004
(C) All rights reserved