VZCZCXYZ0016
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKO #3263/01 1981144
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171144Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5571

UNCLAS TOKYO 003263 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TRGY JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN: NUCLEAR POWER: EARTHQUAKE CAUSES FIRE AND 
LEAK OF RADIOACTIVE WATER AT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 
 
 
 1) SUMMARY: The July 16, 2007 earthquake in western Japan 
caused a fire and radiation leak at Kashiwazki-Kariwa Nuclear 
Power Plant (NPP) and METI ordered that the plant remain 
closed until pending safety checks.  Reports by Tokyo 
Electric Power Company (TEPCO) that the radiation posed no 
environmental hazard were confirmed by Post's contact at 
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA). NISA's 
report to the IAEA, also forwarded to Post, reported that 
four of the plants seven reactors were operating at the time 
of the quake, and that all four tripped and automatically 
shut down. NISA reported a leak of radioactive water on the 
third floor of the reactor building of unit 6 (which was down 
for routine maintenance). The radioactivity discharged to the 
sea is estimated at approximately 60,000Bq in 1.2 cubic 
meters of water. The fire broke out in a transformer that 
supplies electricity to unit 3.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Initial Confusion RE: Leakage of Radioactive Water 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
2) On July 16, 2007 at 10:13am a 6.8 magnitude earthquake 
interrupted the daily operations at the largest NPP in the 
world, TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP located in Niigata 
Prefecture on the Sea of Japan. The jolt caused an 
electricity transformer of the No. 3 reactor to catch fire 
sending black smoke billowing into the air. By noon the fire 
was contained and TEPCO officials issued a statement that no 
radioactive leak was detected.  Later in the day, however, 
TEPCO announced that water containing radioactive material 
was leaked but no adversarial impact on the environment was 
detected. EST officer spoke with  Mr. Keiichi Yoshida, TEPCO 
Manager of Corporate Communications Department, who confirmed 
press reports. 
 
3) According to Mr. Fumiaki Hayakawa, Nuclear and Industrial 
Safety Agency (NISA) Principal Deputy Director of Nuclear 
Emergency Preparedness Division, the amounts of radiation 
released was below the legal standard. Mr. Hiroyoshi Koizumi, 
Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) Senior 
Officer of the International Affairs Group, Safety 
Information Research Division passed along an official 
assessment report, which was also sent to IAEA and NRC. 
Finally, Mr. Kazuko Nagura, Ministry of Economy, Trade and 
Industry (METI), Specialist of Nuclear Safety, International 
Affairs Office said that the Japanese government is currently 
investigating the exact cause of the water leakage and will 
provide updates. Embassy will continue to pass along any new 
information obtained from Japanese government officials. 
 
---------------------------------- 
FIRE AT TRANSFORMER UNIT NO.3 
---------------------------------- 
 
4) The earthquake struck at 10:13am and by 10:27am, TEPCO 
officials reported to the fire department a minor fire at the 
unit #3 transformer that supplies electricity to the 
facility. By 11:58am the fire was extinguished. At the time 
of the earthquake, reactors No. 2,3,4, and 7 automatically 
shutdown as designed. The other three reactors were 
undergoing routine inspections. TEPCO issued a statement that 
no radioactivity leak was detected by any radiation 
monitoring systems.  However, TEPCO was criticized for taking 
too much time to put an end to the fire. There was minor 
damage to a nearby service building, but it is not directly 
relevant to the operations at the reactor building. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
RADIOACTIVE WATER LEAKAGE AT UNIT NO. 6 
--------------------------------------- 
 
5) Mr. Yoshida stated that just before TEPCO's press 
conference around 1:00pm, a TEPCO employee discovered that 
possible water from the spent fuel pool was leaking. 
However, TEPCO did not inform the public because the leakage 
was not officially confirmed at the time of the press 
conference. After the appropriate authorities investigated 
the situation, TEPCO convened another press conference after 
6:00pm and announced that small amounts of radioactive 
materials spilled into the Sea of Japan. 
 
6) According to Japanese official reporting, the leaked water 
was found on the 3rd and mid-3rd floor of the reactor 
building No. 6, whose operation had been suspended at the 
time of the earthquake due to periodical inspections.  The 
leakage of water was estimated at 0.6L, 2.8x10 2Bq on the 3rd 
floor and 0.9L, 1.6X10 4Bq on the mid-3rd floor.  The amount 
of water emitted into the sea was estimated around 1.2 cubic 
meters and contained 60,000Bq of radioactivity. Government 
officials stated that this is the first time radioactive 
material spilled from a NPP because of an earthquake and they 
are thoroughly investigating the cause of the incident. 
(NOTE: Mr. Yoshida stated that radioactive material has 
 
leaked into the sea from the plant before but never resulting 
from an earthquake). Because of this incident, METI Minister 
Akira Amari told TEPCO's President Tsunehisa Katsumata not to 
resume operations of its NPP until preventive measures are 
taken and safety can be ensured.  As of today, no unusual 
events were reported from other nuclear power stations 
relatively close to the stricken area, such as the NPPs at 
Shika and Fukushima. 
SCHIEFFER