Japanese Nuclear Reactor Built On Active Fault
Channel: onthewaytoextinction
Date: 2013-05-15

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

PANEL TO CONCLUDE REACTOR SITS ON ACTIVE FAULT

An expert panel at Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority is to conclude that one of the country's nuclear reactors sits on an active fault.

The panel is to release a final report on its 6-month probe into the Number 2 reactor at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan.

The panel said in its draft report in January that the fault may be active.

The plant operator, Japan Atomic Power Company, has presented data and photos to disprove that the fault is active. But the panel rejected the evidence as unconvincing.

The government's guidelines ban plant operators from building reactors right above active faults due to concerns about damage from earthquakes.

If the plant operator cannot show data that overturns the panel's argument, the Number 2 reactor could be scrapped. It is currently offline for safety inspections.

The operator says it will conclude its own survey into the fault by June. The panel says it may review the report if the operator comes up with new findings.

The panel's probes into suspected active faults cover 6 nuclear power stations. Tsuruga is the first for which a final report will be released.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority plans to decide what to do with the Tsuruga reactor as early as next week.

May 14, 2013 - Updated 20:13 UTC

MONJU OPERATOR SAYS FAULTS ARE NOT ACTIVE

 The operator of Japan's experimental Monju fast-breeder reactor says the seismic faults running beneath the reactor are not active.

The reactor's operator, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, submitted its survey results to the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Tuesday.

Last August, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, which then served as Japan's nuclear regulator, instructed the operator to conduct a survey of the faults under the reactor in Fukui Prefecture. The instruction came after it was discovered that the faults could move if an active fault about 500 meters west of the site were to move.

The operator examined the 8 faults beneath the Monju reactor.

It says the faults have a different soil formation than the active fault to the west and will not be affected by its movements. The operator says it has found nothing to indicate that the faults might move.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority says it will offer its views on faults at 6 sites after conducting its own surveys. These include Monju and a nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture that has the only 2 reactors currently operating in Japan.

The prototype Monju reactor started operation in 1994. It was called a "dream reactor," as it was capable of producing more nuclear fuel than it used. But a sodium leak in 1995 resulted in a suspension of operations for more than 14 years. It resumed operations in 2010, but has since been suspended again.

Apr. 30, 2013 - Updated 10:47 UTC

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