Tsuruga screening

November 5, 2015

Tsuruga reactor to undergo screening

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20151105_30.html

Nuclear & Energy

Nov. 5, 2015 - Updated 10:46 UTC+1

The operator of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in central Japan has applied for a safety screening of its reactor. But some experts say an active fault lies beneath the unit.

The Japan Atomic Power Company submitted the request to nuclear regulators on Thursday. The power company wants to restart the No. 2 reactor at the plant in Fukui Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast.

The screening is a prerequisite for bringing reactors back online under stricter safety regulations introduced after the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima.

The new regulations ban the construction of reactor buildings and other key structures above a fault that could move in the future.

An expert panel from the Nuclear Regulation Authority assessed the Tsuruga plant in May 2013 and in March of this year. It concluded that the No. 2 reactor stands directly above a fault that could shift in the future.

But the Japan Atomic Power Company is challenging the panel's conclusions. The company maintains that there are no faults that could move within the premises of the plant.

The company compiled reports on its new findings from fresh drilling surveys and other on-site studies it has carried out over the past year. And the utilities submitted them to the nuclear regulator.

Nobutaka Wachi, a managing director at the company, said he believes its argument will prove to be correct.

He also said the company wants the regulator to confirm the safety of the reactor and allow it to restart.

Attention is focused on whether the regulator will overturn the expert panel's conclusion.