THE Japanese nuclear reactor where four workers were killed on Monday was rusting away and parts of it had not undergone safety checks for almost 28 years, company officials admitted yesterday.

Police opened a criminal inquiry into the accident at the Mihama nuclear power station, where four men died and seven were injured by superheated steam which burst out of a turbine pipe.

Although no radiation was released, the accident reveals appalling gaps in the plant’s inspection procedures. The pipe that burst open, leaving a 2ft-wide gap through which pressurised steam escaped at a temperature of 140C (280F), had not been properly checked for corrosion since the reactor went into operation in 1976.

A subcontractor pointed out the omission last November, but Kansai Electric Power Company (Kepco), which runs the three nuclear reactors in Mihama, did nothing about it for nine months. It was discovered yesterday that the 10mm walls of the steel pipe had rusted at some points to a crust as thin as 1.4mm.

Despite the fact that the nuclear reactor was still in operation, more than 220 workers were present in the building preparing for a weekend inspection, a serious breach of safety standards, according to Japanese police. The intention was apparently to keep the reactor in operation until the last minute, thus reducing losses caused by the inspection.

The pipe that burst was due to be examined next week for the first time in its working lifespan. “We conducted visual inspections [of the pipe], but never made ultrasonic tests, which can measure the thickness,” Haruo Nakano, a Kepco spokesman, said. “We are responsible.”

The Japanese Government ordered safety checks on pipes at similar nuclear reactors yesterday. Twenty-three of Japan’s fifty-two nuclear reactors are pressurised water reactors similar to the one at Mihama. Between them they generate 20 million kilowatts, more than two fifths of the country’s nuclear power.

Police and nuclear energy officials descended yesterday on Mihama, a coastal town of 11,500 inhabitants in central Japan, where local people expressed anxiety. “The fact that they hadn’t inspected it for 28 years is incredible,” said Shigeo Nakajima, 81, who owns an ice-making shop. “The psychological effect of this accident will be huge.”

Environmentalists say that the industry is cutting corners to reduce costs in anticipation of privatisation. “Rather than increasing safety measures and closing old reactors, the Government is doing the exact opposite, reducing regulation,” Greenpeace said.

“Many of the generating companies have huge debts and have cut plant safety measures to save money.”

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