Tepco may seek okay for reactor restart with nuke reforms

Tepco has set up teams to reform its nuclear division, a move viewed by some as indicative for the restart of idled reactors.

The teams include a supervisory panel consisting of former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale Klein and management consultant Kenichi Omae among others, as well as a task force headed by Tepco President Naomi Hirose to implement the reform steps.

"The mission of this task force is to build an organization for nuclear plant management that has the world's highest level of safety awareness and technical ability," said Hirose.

The panel will work with another project team that will study investigative reports released by a government-appointed committee and other entities on the Fukushima crisis.

Tepco will compile by the end of the year specific plans to reform its nuclear division, which has been criticized for lacking transparency, Hirose added.

However, he denied the purpose of the teams is to ensure the restart of the utility's idled reactors at the seven-reactor Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture. But he suggested that carrying out reforms would be a minimum requirement to seek the OK to bring its reactors online.

"We are aware that restarting the reactors would not be allowed by the people in Niigata unless we properly do these things," Hirose said.

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