The move will also be extended to other facilities that were not hit as hard, including those in Tochigi and Yokohama, north and west of Tokyo respectively, to equip them against future earthquakes, Ghosn said in an interview today at the Iwaki plant in Fukushima prefecture.
“We will do it as a priority here and then we will extend this to other plants, mostly those near the high probability earthquake area. By taking some precautions and making some investments, you’re going to limit the damage,” the Nissan CEO adds.
Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan earlier this month requested Chubu Electric Power Co. shut a nuclear plant in Shizuoka prefecture, west of Tokyo, until the plant’s tsunami defenses are improved. The move came as a direct consequence of a government study that found a 87 percent likelihood of an 8-magnitude quake striking the area within 30 years.
Ghosn said the carmaker is still making evaluation regarding the extent of the reinforcements needs, so he did not make a statement regarding the investment needed for the other plants. Nissan announced today that repairs at the Iwaki plant were completed two weeks earlier than expected.
“Iwaki is a symbol of our swift recovery,” Ghosn told 600 factory workers, before presenting a Special President’s Award to plant manager Nobuhiro Ozawa. After the earthquake, the plant suffered damages including total loss of electricity, water and fuel.
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