Tsuruga Reactor Disqualified to Restart

In the discussion on restarting operation of the reactor #2 of Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant, Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) of government of Japan concluded that an active fault possibly existed under the site. It will be the first example for a nuclear power plant to fail in passing an examination based on new regulative rule introduced in 2013, two years after the severe accident in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011. Although the operator of Tsuruga plant, Japan Atomic Power (JAP), argued that there is no active fault under the site, it is likely for NRA to dismiss JAP’s request to restart the reactor. 

New regulative rule defines an active fault as one that has possibly been active 120-130 thousand years ago or later. The authority prohibits to build an important facility such as nuclear reactor on the land surface beyond the active fault, because it may cause damage on the facility if the fault moves. NPA requires power companies to assess safety ascending to 400 thousand years ago, if necessary.

 

NPA examined whether “K Fault,” 300 meters away from Reactor #2 of the Tsuruga plant, extends to underground of the reactor. While JAP argued that they could not find anything similar to K Fault as far as they drilled the soil, NPA dismissed it as scientifically or technologically baseless. JAP offered further research on it, denying decommission of the reactor. NPA has not decided to accept the result of JAP’s further research.

 

JAP admitted in 2008 that the Urasoko Fault under the Tsuruga plant was an active fault. The government indicated that the fault was active after its own research. When the experts noticed in 2013 that the fault was active, JAP opposed to it. The experts concluded that it was active, anyway. Despite those authoritative conclusions, JAP applied in 2015 for resumption of the reactor, which operation was halted after the Fukushima accident.

 

During examination for the resumption, NRA found a number of faults in the data submitted by JAP. There were also discovered that JAP fabricated the record about strata. This is the third time that NRA concludes that the fault under the nuclear reactor in Tsuruga is likely to be active, which means that it is too risky for the reactor to work.

 

It is highly questionable that JAP has been insisting on restarting operation of the reactor #2 of Tsuruga. It has been nine years since JAP applied the resumption. NRA has been pointing out that the fault under the reactor is active, but JAP rigorously opposed to the conclusions without persuasive scientific basis.

 

The administration led by the Liberal Democratic Party, including current Fumio Kishida Cabinet, has been aiming to resume as much nuclear reactors as possible. JAP seems to expect LDP administration to allow restarting the reactor in Tsuruga, regardless scientific reasonings. This approach may further erode public confidence for nuclear policy of the government of Japan.

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