Kobe Steel scandal impacts on restarts

November 30, 2017

Kobe Steel scandal delays reactor restarts

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20171130_34/

Two Japanese utilities say they will delay the planned restarts of 4 nuclear reactors due to the data falsification of Kobe Steel products.

Kyushu Electric Power Company and Kansai Electric Power Company made the announcements on Thursday.

They said they will delay the restarts of the reactors by about 2 months in order to confirm the safety of equipment that use misrepresented Kobe Steel products.

The delays affect the Number 3 and 4 reactors at the Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture, managed by Kyushu Electric, and the Number 3 and 4 reactors at the Ohi plant in Fukui Prefecture, run by Kansai Electric.

The operators originally planned to restart the reactors from January to March. They have passed the Nuclear Regulation Authority's screenings and received the consent of local governments.

They are now scheduled to be restarted from March to May.

Kobe Steel announced in mid-October that its misrepresented products had been shipped to 500 firms.