Kansai Electric still ignoring calls for reducing dependence on nukes

February 10, 2015

EDITORIAL: Kansai Electric out of step with vision of reduced dependence on nuclear power

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/editorial/AJ201502100039

Kansai Electric Power Co. has announced its intention to restart nine of the 11 nuclear reactors it owns in southern Fukui Prefecture.

The utility that serves the Kansai region focusing on the Osaka area has made clear that it will depend on nuclear power to generate electricity in spite of the catastrophic accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011.

The nine reactors the company plans to reactivate include the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at the Takahama nuclear power plant and the No. 3 reactor at the Mihama plant, which have been in service for 38 to 40 years.

In the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, the central government set a basic upper limit of 40 years on the life of nuclear reactors, with a possible extension of up to 20 years in certain circumstances. But only one extension is permitted as an exception, on condition that the reactor passes a special safety assessment by the Nuclear Regulation Authority to check the degree of equipment deterioration.

Kansai Electric, which generated half of its total power output with atomic energy before the Fukushima accident, is under intense pressure to fall in step with the government’s policy of lowering Japan’s dependence on nuclear power generation as much as possible.

Under these circumstances, the utility’s decision to continue operating nine of its 11 reactors is hard to understand.

The Osaka-based company is expected to post losses for the fourth consecutive year, mainly on the back of increased thermal power generation after the accident that has driven up fuel costs.

At the end of last year, the utility applied for government permission to raise its electricity rates again. If the raises are approved, the company’s power charges will be the second highest in Japan.

Kansai Electric’s decision apparently reflects its desire to lower electricity rates by bringing offline reactors back on stream.

This is precisely the kind of thinking that prevailed in the industry before March 11, 2011.

The triple meltdown at the Fukushima plant created many formidable challenges for nuclear power generation.

Fukui Prefecture is home to 14 nuclear reactors, including those operated by other organizations. An emergency situation involving multiple reactors simultaneously would be extremely difficult to deal with, as dramatically demonstrated by the crisis that unfolded at the Fukushima plant.

The accident highlighted the immense safety risk of a total power outage at a nuclear power plant and showed that utilities need to take more rigorous measures to protect their facilities from terrorist attacks.

To keep operating reactors that have been in service for over 40 years, many special safety measures need to be taken. For example, power cables should be made flame resistant. These measures would cost hundreds of billions of yen, according to one estimate.

It is said that the spent fuel pools of Kansai Electric’s nuclear power plants will reach their storage capacity within several years if the utility restarts the reactors.

Fukui prefectural authorities have called for the construction of a facility for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel outside the prefecture. But the prospects of that happening are close to zero.

In the four years since the 2011 nuclear disaster, Kansai Electric has yet to show a convincing solution to any of these tough challenges it will immediately face if it restarts reactors.

When the power retail market is fully liberalized, as planned, the utility, which has been effectively monopolizing the Kansai region’s market, will have to compete with other electricity suppliers for customers.

Securing diverse power sources should be part of its management efforts to ensure its long-term viability.

Established electric power companies have been ignoring calls for reduced dependence on nuclear power under the pretext of ensuring a stable power supply.

Kansai Electric, which has the largest number of operative reactors among Japanese utilities, has been leading this trend.

But the Kansai region did without nuclear power last summer and is managing to deal with the situation this winter as well.

We urge Kansai Electric’s management team to start making serious efforts to hatch a new business strategy based on the assumption that it will not produce electricity with atomic power.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 10