JP Nuclear Crimes: Preparing To Restart Reactors
Channel: onthewaytoextinction
Date: 2013-06-19

FUKUSHIMA GOVERNOR DEMANDS SCRAPPING ALL REACTORS
 Japan's government has been asked to scrap all nuclear reactors in the prefecture of Fukushima, where one of the 2 nuclear power plants had a disastrous accident in March 2011.
Governor Yuhei Sato of Fukushima Prefecture handed a letter of request to Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in Tokyo on Wednesday. The ministry is now working on its budget for fiscal 2014.
Sato says Fukushima is aiming for sustained regional development without relying on nuclear power. He says it wants the government to take responsibility in decommissioning all reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear plants.
He also says the local government is aiming to make Fukushima a hub for the medical equipment industry and wants the central government to provide substantial financial support to attract related businesses.
Sato told Motegi that most of the requests are linked to the March 2011 nuclear disaster. He said reconstruction efforts are progressing, but that the difficult situation continues.
Motegi was non-committal about decommissioning the reactors. He did promise to help develop medical equipment industry in Fukushima as a pillar of the government's economic growth strategy.
There are 6 reactors in Fukushima that could theoretically function. Two of them are at the Daiichi plant and 4 others at the Daini plant. Preparations are under way to permanently shut down 4 other reactors at the Daiichi plant, following the accident there.
Jun. 12, 2013

NUCLEAR PLANTS FACE SAFETY HURDLES
 Power companies preparing to apply to restart 6 nuclear plants will first need to clear several safety hurdles under new regulation standards due to come into force next month.
Only one of the 6 plants has a building that is structurally resistant to quakes, tsunami and radiation and is capable of serving as an emergency command center as required under the new guidelines for nuclear reactors.
The operators of 5 other plants plan to complete such buildings in about 2 years, and to use alternative facilities in the meantime.
A nuclear power plant in Sendai in Kagoshima Prefecture says it will use a 100-square-meter room near the central control room as a command center.
But nuclear regulators turned down a similar plan submitted by Kansai Electric Power Company for the Ohi plant in Fukui.
They later approved a revised plan to use a control room and adjacent conference room with total floor space of 900 square meters.
The operators of the plants, except for the one at Ohi, have yet to come up with measures to deal with a maximum probable tsunami.
Kansai Electric initially assumed a 2.85-meter tsunami for the Ohi plant, but revised it to 3.68 meters after nuclear regulators rejected the first estimate as too conservative.
None of the 6 plants has completed the breakwater required under the new guidelines.
It remains to be seen how the power companies can assure operational safety with such shortcomings.
Jun. 18, 2013 

NUCLEAR PLANTS TO SEEK RESTART UNDER NEW GUIDELINES
 Six nuclear power plants will apply for restart under new safety guidelines to be adopted by the country's nuclear regulators on Wednesday.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority is expected to implement a new set of rules that oblige power companies to put in place measures to deal with serious accidents. Until now, such measures had been deemed voluntary.
Utilities will also be asked to draw up safety scenarios for bigger earthquakes and higher tsunami.
NHK has learned through interviews with 10 Japanese power companies that 6 nuclear plants are preparing to apply for resumption of operation as soon as the new guidelines go into effect on July 8th.
The plants are Tomari in Hokkaido, Ohi and Takahama in Fukui Prefecture, Ikata in Ehime Prefecture, Genkai in Saga Prefecture and Sendai in Kagoshima Prefecture.
All 6 have pressurized water reactors, a relatively new type of reactor. The stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant uses older boiling water reactors.
The nuclear regulatory body has said screening of applications will take about 6 months. Reactor restarts would also require a go-ahead from local communities.
Jun. 18, 2013