OSAKA -- After five months of denial and public assurances that nothing was wrong, Kansai Electric Power Co. has admitted it failed to properly investigate charges of data falsification at a British manufacturer of uranium-plutonium mixed oxide fuel intended for use in Fukui Prefecture nuclear reactors.
But the utility plans to forge ahead with the importation of MOX fuel from other sources, insisting MOX is a necessary part of Japan's energy policy.
In an interim report released March 1, Kepco acknowledged that it failed to carry out a rigorous, independent check after British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. admitted falsifying data related to two shipments of MOX fuel, and that too much trust had been placed in BNFL.