Haruki Madarame, chairman of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, questioned on July 11 the continued operation of reactors at two Japanese nuclear power plants that have not been subjected to the safety checks normally required before re-entering service.
Haruki Madarame, chairman of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, questioned on July 11 the continued operation of reactors at two Japanese nuclear power plants that have not been subjected to the safety checks normally required before re-entering service.
The No. 3 reactor at Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari nuclear plant in Hokkaido and the No. 1 reactor at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Ohi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture were suspended for regular safety checks before the March 11 earthquake triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Just before the quake struck, both reactors had begun the test runs that precede a restart of normal operations. Ever since, they have been kept in the testing cycle. They have been generating power but have not been put through the final tests that would authorize normal operations.
With the government now holding up the restart of other suspended nuclear power plants with the introduction of new "stress tests" for reactors, the continued operation of the Tomari and Ohi facilities without passing final tests is an anomaly.
Madarame told reporters, "It is obviously not a very good thing."