NRA inspecting Oi today

June 15, 2013

Nuclear regulators inspect Ohi power plant

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130615_12.html

Japan's nuclear regulators are inspecting the Ohi power plant on the Sea of Japan coast for whether it meets safety requirements that will take effect in July.

The complex has the only 2 currently operating nuclear reactors in the country.

On Saturday, 23 officials from the Nuclear Regulation Authority are carrying out an on-site inspection at the plant operated by Kansai Electric Power Company.

The officials will make a final decision later this month on whether to allow the 2 reactors to remain online beyond July.

Earlier this month, they approved the company's plan to use meeting rooms for offline reactors as accident response centers until a new facility is complete.

The nuclear regulator also supported Kansai Electric's assessment on the intensity of a possible earthquake.

Apart from the safety standards, the authority says it will continue to examine active faults underneath the plant's compound.

NRA conducts on-site inspection at Oi nuclear plant

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130615p2g00m0dm035000c.html

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The Nuclear Regulation Authority conducted an on-site inspection Saturday at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear plant to assess whether its two reactors can meet new safety requirements coming into force in July.

A team of inspectors, including NRA Commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa, examined the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors, the nation's sole operating reactors, in Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast.

The NRA set up an investigative panel after the outline of the new safety standards was compiled in April to examine whether Kansai Electric sufficiently prepares for emergencies, such as earthquake and tsunami.

While the panel will report the outcome of its assessment to the NRA later this month, the authority will allow the two reactors to remain online through September -- when they have to undergo mandatory routine checkups -- if it does not see any serious safety problems.

All of Japan's nuclear reactors were temporarily offline in the wake of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi complex in March 2011, but the two reactors at the Oi plant were reactivated in July last year because they cleared provisional safety standards created by the government at that time.

The two, however, have to be checked to determine whether they can meet the new safety requirements to continue operating until their routine checkup period.

As for other reactors, utilities are expected to apply for their restart after the new requirements take effect in July.