More info needed on underground layers at Oma Plant

 January 27, 2015

Ground layer to be issue in Oma safety screening

Jan. 27, 2015 - Updated 09:46 UTC+1

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150127_30.html

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has requested detailed explanations about underground layers at a nuclear power plant under construction in Aomori Prefecture, northern Japan.

The Oma Plant is designed to operate solely on MOX, or mixed-oxide fuel, a combination of uranium and plutonium reprocessed from spent nuclear fuel. The facility would be the world's first commercial all-MOX nuclear plant.

The authority held the second meeting of safety screenings for the plant on Tuesday. NRA officials asked the plant's operator, J-Power, about emergency measures for serious accidents as MOX melts faster than conventional nuclear fuel.

The nuclear plant is to be the first operated by J-Power. The officials requested detailed explanations on the operator's ability to deal with accidents.

They want J-Power to study if underground formations consisting of soft and hard layers could intensify jolts in earthquakes. The officials also asked for surveys of undersea faults along the coast of the Shimokita Peninsula, where the plant is located.

The officials said that the authority will conduct careful discussions on estimating the sizes of possible earthquakes.

Last April, Hakodate City in Hokkaido filed a lawsuit demanding that the state and operator stop the construction. The city is within 30 kilometers of the plant on the opposite side of the Tsugaru Strait. Hakodate officials said accidents at the plant could seriously damage the city.