Japan's Kyushu Power Co Wants To Restart Genkai Nuclear Plant
Channel: onthewaytoextinction
Date: 2013-07-13

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genkai_Nuclear_Power_Plant

UTILITY APPLIES TO RESTART 2 REACTORS

Kyushu Electric Power Company has filed an application to restart 2 reactors in western Japan under new nuclear safety regulations.

 The utility handed in papers for 2 reactors of its Genkai plant in Saga Prefecture to the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Friday.

 The step brought the number of reactors under NRA review to 12, at 6 plants.

 Applications for the 10 other reactors were made on Monday, when the new, stricter regulations took effect to prevent accidents like the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

 All of Japan's nuclear reactors went offline after the crisis. Two have been restarted.

 Kyushu Electric's application says the utility will need more than 2 and a half years to build a full-fledged emergency control room at the Genkai plant.

 The new regulations require that such facilities deal with severe accidents, earthquakes or tsunamis. The utility plans to build a temporary facility by September.

 The firm also raised its expected tsunami height by 1 meter, to 3 meters. But it says no new levee is needed because the plant is 11 meters above sea level.

 Saga Prefecture Governor Yasushi Furukawa says he wants thorough safety checks by the NRA. But he also stresses that the central government should clarify the procedure for allowing restarts after screenings.

 The NRA is to start screenings by 3 teams next Tuesday. Work on the Genkai plant is to start later.

 Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the damaged Fukushima plant, has said it will apply to restart 2 reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture at an early date.

 But the utility has yet to reveal the exact date amid opposition by the prefecture.

Jul. 12, 2013 - Updated 09:46 UTC


NUCLEAR REGULATOR TO START PROCESSING APPLICATIONS

Japan's nuclear regulator will set up teams next week to process applications filed by power utilities to restart their nuclear reactors.

 4 utilities submitted their applications on Monday to restart 10 reactors at 5 plants.

 The 5 include the Tomari plant run by Hokkaido Electric Power Company, the Ohi and Takahama plants operated by Kansai Electric. The others are Shikoku Electric's Ikata plant and Kyushu Electric's Sendai plant.

 Nuclear Regulation Authority will start processing the applications in a meeting on July 16th. The NRA will set up 3 teams, each in charge of 3 to 4 reactors.

 A separate team will also be set up to focus on measures against quake and tsunami.

 The NRA started questioning the utilities on Tuesday.

 The 4 utilities' representatives will attend next week's meeting to explain safety measures and their assessment of possible quakes and tsunami.

Jul. 9, 2013 - Updated 12:21 UTC

NUCLEAR REGULATORS TO STUDY FAULT AT OHI PLANT

Japanese nuclear regulators say they will study a fault running beneath the Ohi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture late this month to determine whether it is active. Ohi is Japan's only operational nuclear plant.

 The Nuclear Regulation Authority said on Monday a team of its officials and outside experts will conduct a third examination.

 Experts conducted 2 inspections last year, but opinions on the status of the fault remain divided.

 The fault runs beneath a device that takes in sea water to cool the reactors.

 The plant's operator, Kansai Electric, also studied the fault. The company announced on July 1st that its investigators had concluded that the fault is inactive.

 They reached the conclusion after digging a trench about 70 meters long and 40 meters deep near the plant's No. 3 reactor and examining the geology.

 Japan's nuclear regulators last month gave permission for the utility to keep the plant online until a safety inspection scheduled for September.

 But they may tell Kansai Electric to suspend operations at the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors if they determine that the fault is active.

Jul. 8, 2013 - Updated 17:19 UTC


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