Hokoriku and Kansai to check below their reactors

July 25, 2012

Hokuriku Electric promises in-depth check-up

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120725_36.html 

The president of Hokuriku Electric Power Company Susumu Kyuwa has said the utility takes very seriously the government directive to conduct in-depth safeguarding analysis.

He added he believes the safety of his company's nuclear power plant has been established by the government's own testing.

Kyuwa noted the utility will activate thermal power plants in response to consumers' concerns over possible power shortages.

Hokuriku Electric submits crack assessment plan

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120725_28.html

The operator of a nuclear power plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast, has informed the government of its plan to probe a seam below the facility to determine whether it's an active fault.

Hokuriku Electric Power Company submitted the plan on Wednesday to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, which had ordered the probe.

Last week, a government panel of experts said that the 300-meter-long crack running about 250 meters below the No.1 reactor at the Shika nuclear power plant is highly likely to be an active fault, but that further assessment is needed.

The plant's two reactors are currently offline for regularly scheduled inspections.

The utility says it plans to start the probe next month by digging a tunnel below the reactor building to determine how long the seam runs and when the ground had shifted in the past.

The company also plans to ask experts to carry out an on-site assessment.

The results will be reported to the government after the investigation is completed in January.

On Wednesday, Kansai Electric Power Company also submitted its inspection plan to the agency. The utility will investigate a seam that runs about 900 meters from north to south between the No.2 and No.3 reactors of the Ohi nuclear power plant. The seam is at a depth of 150 meters. The company says it will report the results to the government as early as by the end of the year.

The government's quake-resistance guidelines ban the construction of key nuclear facilities directly above an active fault. This means the reactors may never be restarted depending on the outcome of the probes.

The nuclear safety agency has ordered similar assessments of underground seams at the Tsuruga nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture and the Higashidori plant in Aomori Prefecture.

Seams not checked for 25 years at Shika

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20120725_29.html

Seams beneath the Shika nuclear plant were judged safe 25 years ago, and have not been reassessed since.

Hokuriku Electric, the operator of the Shika plant, applied for government permission to build the plant's No.1 reactor in January 1987.

The utility decided the seven underground breaches, including the one at issue, in the area were not a hazard, and the industry ministry agreed based on its own safety assessment. The ministry is in charge of nuclear power plants.

The decision was upheld by outside experts with the Nuclear Safety Commission in May 1988.

The government gave permission to build the No.1 reactor about 18 months after the utility applied for it.

In 2006, the government instructed power companies to reassess active faults and seams following a revision of quake resistance guidelines for nuclear plants.

Hokuriku Electric looked into 20 active faults around the Shika plant by drilling, but the underground fissures were not included in the inspection.