Has Kyushu Electric been cheating?

January 24, 2016

Kyushu Electric accused of 'cheap trick' in forgoing quake-proof center at Sendai plant

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201601240026

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Kyushu Electric Power Co. is being lambasted by the public and scholars after backtracking on plans for a quake-proof building at its Sendai nuclear plant after two reactors were restarted.

The utility will forgo the project since an alternative building at the plant in Kagoshima Prefecture has passed inspection by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

The decision was made after two reactors at the Sendai plant resumed operations last year.

Kyushu Electric's change of heart has infuriated citizens' groups opposed to nuclear energy, with some calling it a "cheap trick."

Tadahiro Katsuta, associate professor of nuclear energy policy at Meiji University, who was involved in drawing up new safety standards that called for facilities from where nuclear reactors could be safely operated even in emergencies, criticized the utility.

"It seems that Kyushu Electric, which had been concerned about the NRA response, has gone on the counter-offensive now that the safety screening results are in," Katsuta said. "Unless this trend is stopped, it could continue on to affect other issues beyond the quake-proof building and return to the days before the Fukushima nuclear disaster when regulatory agencies were not in an advantageous position (vis-a-vis the utilities)."

Before the Sendai reactors resumed operations in August and October 2015, Kyushu Electric had announced plans to build the quake-proof building by the end of fiscal 2015. However, in December 2015, the utility turned around and said it would cancel the building plan and use a much smaller building to handle major emergencies at the Sendai plant.

Even Shunichi Tanaka, NRA chairman, appeared taken aback by the shift in position by Kyushu Electric.

"The company obtained approval with the quake-proof building as a precondition so it should fundamentally abide by that stance," Tanaka said. "While we would welcome any change that moves in a safer direction, if it is only being done to save money then we will have to significantly intensify the screening process."

The NRA is expected to hear an explanation from Kyushu Electric on Jan. 26.

The need for quake-proof buildings arose from the lessons learned after the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., was damaged in the 2007 Niigata Chuetsu-oki Earthquake.

Such buildings played an important role in bringing the nuclear accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant under control after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Kyushu Electric applied for a safety screening with the NRA in July 2013 after it said it would construct a three-story quake-proof building and include in it an emergency response center with a planned floor space of about 620 square meters.

Such centers have become mandatory under new safety standards for nuclear plants. While those rooms have to be able to function even after being hit by earthquakes and other natural disasters, the structure does not have to be quake-proof.

Because Kyushu Electric was hurrying to restart the Sendai reactors, it completed an alternative emergency response center in September 2013 that has about 170 square meters of floor space. The one-story structure is quake-resistant, but not quake-proof.

Kyushu Electric said that center would only be used until the quake-proof building was completed.

That alternative center allowed Kyushu Electric to become the first utility to pass the NRA safety screening under the stricter safety standards.

Kyushu Electric also said it was upgrading the alternative center into its permanent emergency response center because it had been found acceptable and there was no longer a need to build the quake-proof structure.

In addition, Kyushu Electric will construct a quake-resistant two-story building with two basement floors next to the emergency response center that will have lodging space for workers who will be on call to provide support in an emergency.

(This article was written by Junichiro Nagasaki, Maiko Kobayashi and Hiromi Kumai.)