NIIGATA: A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency has identified continuous improvements in the nuclear material protection of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in central Japan, the IAEA said Tuesday.

The IAEA team “observed the facility management’s commitment to improving nuclear security and identified continuous improvements in several areas of” the physical protection system of the plant in Niigata Prefecture, the agency said in a statement.

“The team provided TEPCO recommendations and suggestions for further improvements,” the IAEA said after the completion of the team’s nine-day nuclear security inspection of the plant. The IAEA team is expected to compile a report in the coming weeks.

INAGAKI Takeyuki , head of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, said that the plant’s staff will take the IAEA team’s recommendations and suggestions seriously as valuable input. Based on them, the plant will strengthen nuclear security in line with international standards, he said.

The plant had been banned from operating by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority, following a string of inadequacies found in its antiterrorism measures. When the ban was lifted in December last year, industry minister SAITO Ken demanded an outside evaluation of the plant.

JIJI Press