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TEPCO restarting six plants
TOKYO, Japan -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. expects to put six of its thermal plants back into operation by this winter, according to a report. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun stated Tuesday that TEPCO will restart the plants to make up for generating capacity it is losing at its nuclear plants. TEPCO is under investigation after the ministry of trade and industry found the company had covered up 29 cases of cracks at several nuclear reactors. Trade and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma said Monday the government is not pursuing criminal charges against the company. "At the moment, we don't see any matter that should face criminal accusations," Hiranuma said, according to Reuters news agency. "But there are some new matters that we are looking into," he added. In-house investigation under wayAccording to Kyodo news service, the statute of limitations has expired on some of the 29 cases and the others lack sufficient data, because the cracks have since been repaired. TEPCO on Monday started its in-house investigation into the cover-ups and false record keeping. Five top executives are stepping down to take responsibility, including President Nobuya Minami. (Full story) The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Monday that sources at Hitachi Ltd., which checked the company's equipment, said the company manipulated air pressure to pass power-plant safety checks. According to the report, TEPCO kept two sets of records: an in-house copy with correct data and an official version with figures generated by manipulating the pressure. TEPCO workers gave government inspectors doctored data and staged inspections to match the figures, the Yomiuri Shimbun stated. An expensive switchThe 29 cases of cover-ups took place in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Those revelations have led to heightened scrutiny of TEPCO's nuclear plants. By mid-October, it will have lost around 8 million kilowatts of capacity, or 13 percent of the company's total. TEPCO will reactivate the six thermal plants as a result. The plants have a combined output of more than 3 million kilowatts, or around 70 percent of TEPCO's thermal power plants that are now idle. Thermal plants are more expensive to operate, with a 1 million kilowatt thermal plant costing about 100 million yen ($819,000) more per day to run than a nuclear facility.
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