Wholeheartedly : Inheriting safety spirits of Kansai Electric Power
Aiming at the world's highest level of safety keeping my mission
Lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident
Reflecting on the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident while placing the lessons learned from the Mihama unit 3 accident as the basis of our safety enhancement efforts, we established a new position at each nuclear power station, Nuclear Safety General Manager who assumes important responsibilities second to the General Manager of the Nuclear Power Plant. The Nuclear Safety General Manager assumes sole responsibilities to promote nuclear safety at his nuclear power plant.
Building on frontline workers' abilities through experience of world's highest level (excellence)
Mr. Sato has accumulated a wide range of experience at the power station in actually generating electricity, including shift duties at the Power Generation Division, core management and inspection of nuclear fuel at the Safety Management Division and maintenance activities at the Maintenance Planning Division. Through various jobs related to nuclear power generation he worked on at the Nuclear Power Generation Division, his knowledge and expertise about nuclear safety has been furthermore enhanced. At the same time, the soul and spirit of KEPCO men, which has been inherited from superiors to younger colleagues have been penetrated to him.
"At the interview with my boss, I was asked "what is your course of professional career in future?" I answered that I would like to engage in the field activities at the power station because I felt motivation and satisfaction in actually producing electricity. My view of profession might be affected by my father who has been in the manufacturing business."
Since he started his career at the nuclear power station, he have had many opportunities to closely work with overseas partners, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He worked for Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) for one year and a half since 2005. In the meantime, he was qualified to the reviewer of INPO's peer review∗. Then he was moved to Japan Nuclear Technology Institute (JANTI) where he contributed to building the Japanese peer review system taking the advantage of his experience at INPO.
∗ Experts visit the power plant or manufacturer's to review (evaluate) the safety of the places of business (nuclear safety, radiation safety, labor safety, etc.) and performance related to the assurance of reliability aiming at the enhancement of safety and reliability of the places of business.
"When I was first sent to the U.S., I managed to understand only about 30% of what they were talking because my TOEIC score was on the order of 600.
I received on-the-job training at the U.S. plants. I was impressed by their attitude consistently pursuing the world's highest level (excellence) beyond just meeting the regulatory standard rather than being satisfied with the present situation. In spite of various difficulties, including the language barrier and cultural difference, my experience in knowing the difference with the global community has turned into my absolute treasure.
"
