information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
17 Décembre 2014
December 17, 2014
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201412170075
By TOSHIO KAWADA/ Staff Writer
TAKAHAMA, Fukui Prefecture--Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama plant here became the second nuclear power facility to receive the virtual go-ahead to resume operations under tougher safety requirements introduced after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Dec. 17 said it concluded that the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Takahama nuclear plant have met the safety standards required to prepare for natural disasters and severe accidents.
The NRA’s decision will be finalized after it receives public opinions on the issue for 30 days starting Dec. 18.
However, Kansai Electric must first gain the consent of local officials and residents to restart the reactors.
In addition, the NRA still needs to check the detailed construction plans and blueprints for the Takahama plant, as well as safety guidelines on how Kansai Electric will operate the reactors and respond to an accident.
An additional one to two months will also be necessary for the NRA to conduct on-site inspections.
If no problems arise, Kansai Electric will likely be able to resume operations at the plant next spring at the earliest.
“There still remains screenings of the construction plans and safety rules to restart the reactors, so we will continue to sincerely respond to the NRA’s examination,” Kansai Electric President Makoto Yagi said at a news conference on Dec. 17.
Kansai Electric is also proceeding with a special safety inspection to extend the operating lives of the aging No. 1 and No. 2 reactors of the Takahama plant for two decades beyond the normal expiry date of 40 years.
Under the stricter safety standards, utilities must have quake-resistant buildings for emergency operations in the event of damage caused by a natural disaster.
Kansai Electric listed the buildings for the two aging reactors as emergency operation centers, but it is currently constructing separate buildings for emergency purposes at the Takahama plant site.
The NRA is requiring the company to keep those two reactors shut down for the time being. The nuclear watchdog could rescreen the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors if Kansai Electric hopes to restart the aging reactors at an early date.
The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is moving toward restarting now-idled reactors that are deemed safe by the NRA. Currently, no reactors are operating in Japan.
The first nuclear plant expected to resume operations is Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture. The No. 1 and No. 2 reactors there passed the NRA’s safety screenings in line with the stricter regulations.
The results of the NRA’s examination of the Sendai plant reactors were released in July.
The nuclear watchdog referred to its examination of the Sendai plant to work out its 433-page draft report that virtually allows Kansai Electric to resume operations at the Takahama plant.
Kansai Electric submitted its application to restart the Takahama No. 3 and No. 4 reactors when the new safety regulations took effect in July 2013.
It plans to use the reactors for plutonium-thermal power generation, in which mixed-oxide fuel consisting of plutonium and uranium is used.
The Takahama plant is located just 3.5 meters above sea level, much lower compared with the Sendai plant. Kansai Electric was required to raise the height of surrounding levees to block tsunami.
Kansai Electric initially projected a maximum tsunami height at the Takahama plant of 2.6 meters. It revised the estimate to 6.2 meters after the NRA ordered the company to recheck its calculations.
The utility was also advised to increase its projected earthquake scale from 550 gals to 700 gals and enhance the quake-resistance of plant equipment. A gal is a unit of acceleration that measures the extent of an earthquake’s seismic waves.
The next step for Kansai Electric is to win the approval of Fukui Prefecture and Takahama town to restart the reactors.
“We will work to restart operations as early as possible by making efforts to obtain an agreement from people living in the surrounding areas,” Yagi said.
Areas of Kyoto and Shiga prefectures located within a 30-kilometer radius of the Takahama plant have maintained a cautious stance toward resuming reactor operations there.
Areas within 30 km of the plant are designated as the Urgent Protective Action Planning Zone. Local administrations in the zone could demand that Kansai Electric keep the reactors offline until it also gains their approval, pointing to the possible dangers to their residents.
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141217p2g00m0dm041000c.html
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Two idled nuclear reactors owned by Kansai Electric Power Co. on Wednesday cleared the initial safety hurdle to being brought back online, possibly next year, bolstering the government's plan to revive atomic power following the 2011 Fukushima crisis.
The Nos. 3 and 4 units at the Takahama nuclear plant, located on the Sea of Japan coast in Fukui Prefecture, western Japan, follow two reactors operated by Kyushu Electric Power Co. in passing the nuclear regulator's tighter safety requirements, introduced after the Fukushima accident.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, which won a major victory in Sunday's lower house election, is set to speed up efforts to reactivate nuclear plants that have remained idled amid safety concerns raised by the Fukushima meltdowns, even though the majority of people surveyed in Japan oppose resumption.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority decision-making panel approved Kansai Electric's enhanced safety measures against possible earthquake and tsunami hazards as well as other severe accidents that could affect the plant. The regulator will give a formal safety clearance to the utility after a monthlong public consultation period through Jan. 16.
NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said the regulator has confirmed the plant's compatibility with the new regulatory standards, however, he urged Kansai Electric to make continued efforts to enhance safety.
Among Japan's 48 commercial reactors -- all of which currently remain offline -- only four, including the Takahama units, have met the more rigorous safety requirements. Passing the NRA's safety screening based on the regulations is the initial requirement for resumption, with no specific date set for the restart.
The Takahama units will not go back online before spring, as Kansai Electric still needs to obtain local approval and undergo more procedures including on-site operational checks.
Power companies are desperate to bring their idled nuclear reactors back online amid an increase in fossil-fuel costs for thermal power generation, which has covered the shortfall in the absence of atomic power.
On Wednesday, Kansai Electric said it will raise electricity bills from April, citing its deteriorating earnings. The utility last raised electricity rates in May last year.
"We face a severe financial condition and if this goes on it will endanger the company's existence," President Makoto Yagi said at a press conference in Osaka.
The utility, serving an area centering on Osaka, will likely post its fourth straight group net loss in the business year through next March. In addition to the Takahama units, it also hopes to restart two more reactors at its Oi complex in Fukui.
But the process of resumption may not go as smoothly as the utility hopes, partly because neighboring municipalities such as Shiga Prefecture demand more say in deciding whether to allow the resumption, saying they could also be severely affected in the event of a nuclear accident.
A pair of reactors at Kyushu Electric's Sendai complex, located in southwestern Japan, became the first units in September to meet the new regulations. Local municipalities have already given the green light to their resumption and they could go back online early next year.
December 17, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
See also :
Kyodo
Two idled nuclear reactors owned by Kansai Electric Power Co. on Wednesday cleared an initial safety hurdle necessary for them to be restarted, possibly next year, bolstering the Abe government’s plan to revive atomic power following the 2011 Fukushima crisis.[…]
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
Dec. 17, 2014 - Updated 04:15 UTC+1
Japan's nuclear regulator has compiled its draft assessment on safety measures for 2 of the 4 reactors at Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan.
The draft effectively approves the safety measures and clears the way for the restart of the plant located on the Japan Sea coast. A draft assessment of another plant in southern Japan has already been approved.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority unanimously approved the draft on Wednesday.
The draft assessment says the No. 3 and 4 reactors now meet government regulations introduced after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011.
Kansai Electric Power Company's measures include raising the reactors' ability to withstand maximum projected jolts and tsunami heights from earthquakes. The operator also installed a higher embankment and cooling pumps to prepare for the possibility of a severe nuclear accident.
Authority commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa said the body confirmed the reactors are equipped with minimum measures to ensure safety, but the operator should continue efforts and investment for greater safety.
The authority will gather public opinion on the draft for 30 days before officially adopting the document.
The plant's operator still needs approval on details of equipment design as well as inspections. It also needs to gain local consent. The facility is unlikely to go online before spring.
Takahama will be the 2nd plant to pass the new regulations, following the Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan, in September.
All of Japan's nuclear reactors are currently offline.
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