The 108th Safety Caravan was conducted on November 6, 2008, at Hokuriku Electric Power Company’s Shika Nuclear Power Station in Shika Town, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Approximately 20 Hokuriku Electric Power Company employees (managers and supervisors) attended the Safety Caravan.

Mr. Shinji Wakamiya, General Manager of Shika Nuclear Power Station, gave this opening statement: “We at Shika Nuclear Power Station receive a lot of support and guidance from Japan Nuclear Technology Institute and continuously strive towards making a safer and more trusted power station. The peer review is scheduled for next autumn, and I’m hoping that after hearing today’s presentation on power stations’ common weaknesses, we will be able to improve the areas where improvement is needed, demonstrate our improved situation at next fiscal year’s peer review, and go on to make further improvements in the future. Today is the fourth time that Shika Nuclear Power Station has hosted the Safety Caravan, and the conventional format has been replaced by a new one. I believe we will find this new format very useful. As a representative of the power station, I’m looking forward to fully participating and learning as much as possible”

After this opening statement, Mr. Toru Ikeda (General Manager, Evaluation Group, NS Net Division) began his presentation entitled “Common Weaknesses Among Power Stations as Reported in the JANTI Peer Review”.

○About the JANTI Peer Review

○The Peer Reviews’ Track Record (7 events)

○Common Problems Faced by Power Stations

• Foreign Material Exclusion
• Effects of Permanent and Temporary Storage of Material on Important Equipment
• Using Operating Experience
• Management Effectiveness

○Using Operating Experience

○Management Observation

In the questionnaire after the presentation, the following opinions were expressed.

●Thanks to the good practice studies presented, I could reaffirm the effectiveness of management observation. I had never considered observation necessary for the evaluation of the effectiveness of training in the training center, so this was a real eye-opener for me. I hope to continue to make use of good practice studies of other companies to achieve our targets and best practices in the future.
●Just as in the gradual approach taken when dealing with nonconformance, the level of importance should dictate how problems are prioritized. In considering its responsibility to provide outsiders with explanations, business will find it more and more necessary to give frequent explanations on areas previously deemed less important. I feel that achieving this balance will become an issue in the future.
●I became aware that many of the peer review’s common improvement proposals included those covered by ‘Management Effectiveness’. When I thought about the role of managers, the problems introduced in today’s presentation made me realize that, despite my best efforts to remain aware of problem areas, there are still many points which have been overlooked. I hope to use today’s good practice studies as references to realize further improvements.

Group Work

Instead of the conventional exchange of safety information, this Safety Caravan  included a group work stage in which participants were split into two groups to discuss and give presentations on the topic “Management Effectiveness”.