Four electric power companies applied for safety examinations of 10 reactors on July 8, the day tougher standards took effect to prevent a recurrence of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Four electric power companies applied for safety examinations of 10 reactors on July 8, the day tougher standards took effect to prevent a recurrence of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.
The new safety rules, imposed by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, are intended to protect reactors from damage caused by natural disasters in this earthquake-prone nation.
The NRA will set up three teams consisting of about 80 members in total for the safety examinations. Each examination, which will include interviews with employees and on-the-spot checks, is expected to take at least about six months to complete.
Utilities can restart reactors that pass the examination if they obtain consent from local governments and approval from the central government.
Shikoku Electric Power Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co. applied for examinations for three reactors that will be used in plutonium-thermal (pluthermal) power generation, which burns mixed oxide (MOX) fuel containing plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel.
The new safety rules fall under the Nuclear Reactor Regulation Law and were drafted after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, caused the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and shattered government assurances that Japanese nuclear plants were safe from natural disasters.
If the NRA concludes that a reactor does not meet the standards, it can order the electric power company to improve certain equipment or continue to suspend the operations.
The NRA introduced the “backfit” system, in which utilities are required to improve or renew existing equipment to meet the latest standards.
The new standards require utilities to install a filtered system to curb emissions of radioactive materials to the outside environment when venting is needed to reduce pressure within a reactor.
The standards also call for the establishment of quake-resistant buildings that can be used as emergency headquarters if a nuclear accident occurs.
The new standards also urge companies to upgrade their measures to deal with tsunami and earthquakes, as well as to minimize damage from terrorist attacks using aircraft.
The NRA as of July 8 also limits the operations of a reactor to 40 years in principle.
A utility wanting to operate a reactor for more than 40 years must not only meet the new standards, but also must inspect in detail possible deterioration at the facility.
Since repair work and upgrades for aging reactors could prove expensive, electric power companies may decide to decommission them instead.
Of Japan’s 50 nuclear reactors, only two are currently online.
The pluthermal reactors that will undergo the examinations are the No. 3 reactor at Shikoku Electric’s Ikata plant in Ehime Prefecture and the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electric’s Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture.
The seven other reactors are: the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors at the Tomari nuclear power plant, operated by Hokkaido Electric Power Co.; the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electric’s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture; and the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, operated by Kyushu Electric Power Co.