Tokyo Electric Power Co. needs to improve its safety culture if it hopes to restart any of its idled reactors, the head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority signaled Wednesday, touching on a spate of problems seen before the Fukushima No. 1 meltdown crisis started last year.
Referring to deformed spent-fuel rods at Tepco's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture and 2002 revelations of the utility's coverup of defects, NRC chief Shunichi Tanaka told reporters, "To tell the truth, I think there may be something wrong (with this utility).
"People on site, with their enthusiasm, knowledge and ability, should serve as a defense that prevents accidents and problems. I wonder if they are functioning properly," he said, stressing the utility needs radical remedial change if it wants to "keep operating nuclear plants."