Restart or not restart? (1)

June 18, 2014

Reactor safety screening to follow fault study

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140618_26.html 

Japan's nuclear regulatory body says it will not begin safety checks at a reactor in northern Japan until it judges the safety of geological faults under the facility.

Tohoku Electric Power Company, which operates the Higashidori nuclear plant in Aomori Prefecture, applied last week for a review of the plant's No.1 reactor. The utility hopes to restart it in March 2016.

But in February last year, an expert panel of the Nuclear Regulation Authority compiled a draft report warning that faults under the facility are at high risk of shifting.

Tohoku Electric insists the faults are not active.

On Wednesday, the authority decided not to launch a full-scale screening until its members can issue a unified opinion of the faults.

But the authority did agree to let Tohoku Electric join discussions with other power companies on filtered vents and other safety measures at reactors already being screened.

Jun. 18, 2014 - Updated 08:09 UTC