Aging Genkai nuclear reactor may have faulty vessel: study

[kristopher]

Aging Genkai nuclear reactor may have faulty vessel: study
SAGA (Kyodo) -- A nuclear power reactor unit which began operations 36 years ago at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Genkai plant may have a faulty pressure vessel, an analysis by researchers showed Saturday.

The possibility of a fault in the process of manufacturing a critical unit encasing nuclear fuel assemblies at the seaside plant's No. 1 reactor casts doubt over the credibility of previous inspections of nuclear reactors, the analysis led by Hiromitsu Ino indicated.

Ino, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo, and other experts in metal materials, performed a close analysis of test data used to determine the degradation levels of steel used for the pressure vessel.

The analysis of the data, which were disclosed by the utility only in July, showed that disparities exist in the quality of steel used for the vessel, pointing to the possibility that there was a mistake in its manufacturing process, Ino said.

The No. 1 unit...

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110724p2g00m0dm073000c.html