A senior Tokyo Electric Power Co. official is suspected of having given specific orders to hide cracks found in one of the firm's nuclear reactors when routine inspections were conducted in the 1990s, sources said Monday.
Tepco's in-house investigation committee determined that the official, who is currently a board member, ordered those involved in the inspections not to conduct any followup inspections when cracks were found in the dividing walls of the Fukushima No. 2 plant's No. 3 reactor core in 1997, the sources said, without naming the executive.
Inspectors and Tepco workers who were involved in the checks had found the cracks and recommended that the utility conduct an ultrasound examination to determine their depths.