NRA surveys faults at Kashiwazaki

February 17, 2014

Regulators check areas of planned fault survey at Kashiwazaki plant

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140217p2g00m0dm071000c.html 

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Nuclear regulators started a two-day inspection Monday of sites where Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to conduct a survey of geological faults in and around the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant complex as part of the safety review process.

After finishing the inspection for the day, Nuclear Regulation Authority Commissioner Kunihiko Shimazaki suggested that TEPCO will not have to significantly modify the currently planned survey, saying it is "basically appropriate."

TEPCO's Managing Executive Officer Takafumi Anegawa said he expects the survey to take between three and six months.

TEPCO has applied for the safety assessment of its Nos. 6 and 7 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture to bring the two units back online, but the NRA has requested an additional survey of faults, saying the data submitted so far are "insufficient."

All of the plant's seven reactors, except for the No. 4 unit, are known to be sitting above small faults. TEPCO has insisted that the faults are not active.

In quake-prone Japan, nuclear power plant operators are not permitted to build reactors and other facilities with important safety functions directly above active faults that could cause displacement or other movements on ground surfaces.

Active faults are defined as those that have moved in the last 120,000 to 130,000 years.

To respond to the NRA's request, TEPCO plans to dig a trench at the plant site and also conduct surveys boring into the ground within and outside the premises.

TEPCO is seeking to reactivate the reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant amid tough business conditions due to the massive costs stemming from the devastating accident at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011.

February 17, 2014(Mainichi Japan)

Fault survey begins at nuclear plant

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140217_17.html 

Japan's nuclear regulators on Monday began a survey of seismic faults at a nuclear power plant owned by Tokyo Electric Power Company.

TEPCO has applied for safety screenings by the Nuclear Regulation Authority for its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata prefecture. It hopes to restart the numbers 6 and 7 reactors there.

But the authority has asked the firm to conduct an additional inspection of faults in the area. More than 20 such faults are located beneath the reactor buildings and other parts of the plant complex.

On Monday, the Nuclear Regulation Authority's Kunihiko Shimazaki and 15 staff members visited 7 locations north of the plant. They inspected the geological structure by digging into the strata.

The regulators will continue their work until Tuesday to determine whether the utility's plan for its own inspection is adequate.

TEPCO says that it has so far detected no faults that could become active in the near future. But it expects the new survey to take several months to complete.

In its new business plan, TEPCO has based its projected earnings and spending on the assumption that the 2 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant will be back online in or after July.

Feb. 17, 2014 - Updated 05:22 UTC

February 16, 2014

Regulator to survey faults at Kashiwazaki plant

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140217_04.html 

Japan's nuclear regulator is starting a survey of faults at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority will inspect the plant in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast from Monday.

Tokyo Electric Power Company requested the safety screening ahead of plans to restart the Number 6 and Number 7 reactors at the plant.

But the authority asked TEPCO to conduct an additional survey because there are 23 faults underneath reactor buildings and other locations.

Authority Commissioner Kunihiko Shimazaki and other experts will spend 2 days determining the adequacy of the operator's plan for an additional survey of the faults.

The experts say they will inspect the site of a large-scale pit. They will also examine the terrain and geological formations around the compound.

TEPCO says it currently believes there is no possibility of future fault movement at the compound. It expects the new survey will likely take several months to complete.

But the survey could prolong the authority's safety screening. The utility is estimating its finances on the assumption that the plant will be restarted in July.

New regulations ban the installment of nuclear reactors and other key equipment above faults that could move in the future.

- Updated 22:51 UTC