New TEPCO head vows change

The new president of scandal-ridden Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) vowed Tuesday to rebuild the company's tattered reputation with a stricter safety regime and a continued investigation into its cover-up scandal.

``At the moment, the most important goal for us is to improve nuclear safety and regain trust among the local residents around nuclear plants,'' Tsunehisa Katsumata, 62, told a news conference.

Katsumata, who formally took office the same day, said the nation's largest electric utility had on Tuesday established a nuclear quality management department in its head office, to prevent future misconduct.

When asked what was at the root of the cover-up scandal, Katsumata-the former executive vice president who has led the subsequent in-house probe-said there had been a tendency among employees to take regulatory manuals too lightly.

While flexibility is required to some degree in all companies, he said the nuclear division allows no room for a loose attitude.

``I was really shocked to find out about the cover-ups because I had thought the nuclear division, where the manuals stated what to do in great detail, was the most strict division in terms of following regulations,'' he said.

The new nuclear quality management department will operate independently of the nuclear division, auditing safety management at nuclear plants and providing advice and suggestions.

Asked about the falsification of safety check data at TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Katsumata said an outside committee consisting of lawyers, which is currently investigating the case, will release an interim report within a month.

Katsumata also said Vice President Shigemi Tamura, 64, will become company chairman on Oct. 30.(IHT/Asahi: October 16,2002)