Forget Fukushima! Utilities Want To Restart Nuclear Reactors
Channel: onthewaytoextinction
Date: 2013-05-29

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld

KEPCO TO APPLY FOR RESUMPTION OF 2 REACTORS

 A Japanese nuclear power plant operator says it will ask for permission to restart 2 of its reactors once the government introduces new safety guidelines in July.

The president of Kansai Electric Power Company, Makoto Yagi, on Monday said his firm intends to apply for permission to restart the Number 3 and 4 reactors at the Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture.

KEPCO is seeking the resumption as soon as possible as it has already implemented an electricity price hike on the basis of future earnings from the nuclear reactors.

Yagi said the operator is also preparing to apply for permission to restart other plants.

But the Nuclear Regulation Authority says that some of KEPCO's nuclear power stations still have to be checked to see if they have active faults beneath their sites before it can start screening them for the new guidelines.

The majority of Japan's nuclear reactors have been shut down in the wake of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

May 27, 2013 - Updated 13:00 UTC

NUCLEAR OPERATORS SEEKING AUTHORIZATION TO RESTART

Four Japanese nuclear plant operators have said they will apply to restart reactors once the government introduces new safety guidelines in July.

NHK interviewed personnel on Monday from 10 utilities across the country.

Officials at Kansai Electric Power Company and Kyushu Electric Power Company each said they plan to apply to restart 2 reactors.

Shikoku Electric Power Company personnel said they will ask to put one reactor online. Hokkaido Electric Power Company officials said they aim to restart 3.

All the reactors are pressurized-water reactors, distinct from the boiling-water type used at the defunct Fukushima Daiichi plant.

New safety regulations will be implemented by July 18th. Operators will be required to fulfill precautions against accidents and natural disasters.

Examiners from the Nuclear Regulation Authority will then check applications before granting authorization.

Plant operators are still calculating elements like the potential height of tsunami and risks of volcanic eruptions.

Most of Japan's nuclear reactors have been shut down since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disrupted the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

May 27, 2013 - Updated 22:18 UTC

STRONG EARTHQUAKE HITS MIYAGI PREFECTURE

 A strong earthquake has hit Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

The Meteorological Agency says the quake registered 5-plus on the Japanese scale of zero to 7 in the city of Ishinomaki. It struck at around 2:48 PM on Saturday.

The agency says it appears to have been an aftershock related to the March 11th, 2011 quake that hit wide areas of eastern Japan.

Tremors were observed from Hokkaido Prefecture in the north to Shizuoka Prefecture in central Japan.

The agency first estimated the magnitude of the quake at 5.9 but later revised it to 6.0. It also says the focus of the earthquake was 46 kilometers below the surface of the ocean off Fukushima Prefecture.

There have been no reports of damage or injury.

A sales clerk in Ishinomaki City says he felt slow-moving jolts for about 20 seconds and that some products fell from the shelves.

Tohoku Electric Power Company says monitoring posts at the Onagawa nuclear power plant did not register any change in radiation levels.

Bullet train services were temporarily suspended along a section of the Tohoku line immediately after the quake.

May 18, 2013 - Updated 07:36 UTC

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