NIIGATA (Kyodo) The mayor of Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, on Monday urged Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates a nuclear plant in the city, to probe the cause of a minor fire Saturday night in the facility and prevent a recurrence.
The fire broke out at around 10:20 p.m. Saturday, with a fire alarm detecting smoke near a motor of an air conditioner installed in the storehouse. The fire burned electrical wires but was brought under control in about two hours, according to Tepco.
Kashiwazaki Mayor Hiroshi Aida conveyed his request to Akio Takahashi, head of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant. No one was injured and no radiation leaked from any of the plant's seven reactors, all of which have been halted since the plant was struck by a major earthquake in July 2007, according to Tepco.
Takahashi apologized to the mayor over the fire, the complex's ninth since the shutdown.
