Japan death plant faulty pipe ‘not inspected’

THE operator of a Japanese nuclear plant admitted to lax safety inspections after a steel pipe which had not been properly inspected for 28 years exploded and killed four workers.

Kansai Electric Power Company said the thickness of the pipe, which ruptured and spewed out non-radioactive steam on Monday, was below minimum safety standards.

"We conducted visual inspections, but never made ultrasonic tests, which can measure the thickness of a steel pipe," said spokesman Haruo Nakano.

The broken pipe, which was 10mm thick (0.4in) when installed in 1976, measured just 1.4mm way below the legal safety standard of 4.7mm, he said.

"We are responsible" for slack management of plant inspection data, said quality manager Koji Ebisuzaki.

The pipe "showed large- scale corrosion at the area in question", Kansai Electric said in a statement.

Of the seven injured in the blast at Mihama, 350km west of Tokyo, at least one was in critical condition.

The workman had 80% burns and was breathing with a respirator.

Deputy plant manager Akira Kokado said the accident had hurt public confidence in nuclear power and Kansai Electric.

"We hope to restore confidence by probing its cause and reviewing plant inspection procedures," he said.

Police said about 100 officers were gathering evidence for an investigation.

The government said its probe would focus on the thickness of the ruptured pipe's wall.

"The probe will focus on whether the pipe's rupture was caused by the pipe walls being too thin," said Michio Yamaguchi, a Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official.

Greenpeace said Japan's nuclear power programme should be abandoned in the wake of the accident.

"Japan should mark this tragic event by closing its nuclear industry down," the environmental group said.

Japan is the third-largest nuclear power producer after the US and France.

Nuclear power accounts for more than 25% of electricity supply.