IAEA double-checks Japanese tests

A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has kicked off its review of Japanese nuclear safety tests with a series of open meetings in Japan. The ten-strong IAEA International Complementary Safety Assessment Review Mission is in Japan to review the methodology of the stress tests carried out at Kansai's Ohi nuclear power plant.
Two-phase stress tests were mandated by the Japanese government following the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident. Utilities are required to examine the safety margin of important pieces of equipment in accordance with guidelines set by the country's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) and Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC).

Based on the results of these initial tests, carried out while units are shut down for inspections, the government is to decide whether a reactor can or cannot resume operation. Ohi unit 3 was the first Japanese nuclear power plant to complete the first step of the mandatory stress tests in October 2011, but in common with all Japanese power plants that have entered an outage since the Fukushima accident no permit has yet been issued for the plant to restart.