Surveying fault under Shika plant

 February 22, 2014

Scientists survey faults at Shika nuke plant

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140222_14.html 

Japanese scientists have conducted an on-the-spot survey of a fault running beneath the Shika nuclear plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan.

Four scientists and a member of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, Kunihiko Shimazaki, began a 2-day inspection of the Shika plant on Saturday to determine whether a fault beneath one of the idled reactors is active.

The team descended a 40-meter-deep pit near the Number 1 reactor and entered a tunnel dug for examining conditions of the fault called S-1.

Some scientists said the S-1 fault could shift in the future, but Hokuriku Electric Power Company, which operates the plant, denied the possibility.

The government's new regulations ban the installation of nuclear reactors and other key equipment above faults that could shift in the future.

Restarting the idled reactors at the Shika plant depends on findings from the inspection.

The inspection team is to survey another fault located 1.4 kilometers east of the Shika plant before ending the inspection on Sunday.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority and scientists have so far carried out inspections of faults at 6 nuclear plants.

The authority concluded last year that the fault running beneath a reactor of the Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture has the potential to shift.

Feb. 22, 2014 - Updated 05:39 UTC