OI, Fukui Prefecture--Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa agreed that appropriate safety measures were in place after he inspected the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant on June 12.
OI, Fukui Prefecture--Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa agreed that appropriate safety measures were in place after he inspected the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant on June 12.The central government and Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO), operator of the Oi plant, are preparing to restart the two reactors, which would end Japan’s period of having none of its 50 reactors online.Many reactors have been shut down for routine maintenance, but they have not been reactivated because of public anxiety over last year's disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.However, the central government is pushing hard to have the two Oi nuclear reactors back online soon to avoid a power crunch during peak demand in the summer.Nishikawa said safety measures in place at the Oi plant were in line with recommendations in a June 11 report by the prefectural government's expert committee on nuclear safety. The report concluded that safety was guaranteed at the two Oi reactors.The governor was accompanied by Hideyuki Nakagawa, chairman of the prefectural expert committee, and senior officials of the prefectural government for the three-hour tour of an emergency power generator, located near the No. 3 reactor building, and the interior of a reactor containment vessel.Nakagawa is a professor emeritus of electronic engineering at the University of Fukui.Hideki Toyomatsu, a KEPCO executive vice president who is also managing director of the utility's Nuclear Power Division, explained how the company had bolstered safety measures following the Fukushima disaster.Nishikawa told KEPCO officials to establish a solid setup for emergency liaisons with the central and local governments.