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14 July, 2005
Following Japan’s worst nuclear accident in history on 9 August in which four workers were killed and seven injured seriously, Kansai Electric Power announced it would temporarily close all 11 of its nuclear plants for inspections of pipes for corrosion. The deadly accident occurred at Kansai’s Mihama nuclear plant north of Kyoto when a steam pipe ruptured. The pipe reportedly never had been inspected since the plant opened in 1976, and investigators after the accident found the once ten-millimetre-thick pipe had worn away to a thickness of only 1.4 millimetres. Minimum safety requirements mandate such pipes carrying superheated steam be at least 4.7 millimetres thick.