A fault line beneath the No. 2 reactor of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant is indeed active, an expert panel of the Nuclear Regulation Authority concluded Nov. 19, drawing criticism from the plant’s operator.
A fault line beneath the No. 2 reactor of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant is indeed active, an expert panel of the Nuclear Regulation Authority concluded Nov. 19, drawing criticism from the plant’s operator.
Japan Atomic Power Co. vowed to challenge the panel’s conclusion, which, if it stands, would force the company to decommission the reactor under new safety rules.
“It is a rash, one-sided judgment and just a presumption,” Japan Atomic Power Vice President Taiki Ichimura told reporters after the Nov. 19 meeting of the NRA panel. “We are confident that we will be able to rebut and disprove the conclusion.”
Japan Atomic Power, citing its own survey results, said the fault under the reactor was not connected to the Urasoko fault’s branch and was not active.
After reassessing the conditions at the Tsuruga plant, the expert panel said in its draft report Nov. 19 that the fault under the reactor building “could move in the future,” repeating the NRA’s stance last year.
The NRA is expected to finalize the draft after it is examined by other experts.
Under stricter safety standards introduced after the Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, reactor buildings cannot be built directly above active faults. Japan Atomic Power will likely be unable to restart the No. 2 reactor unless the panel’s draft report is dismissed.
The NRA’s assessment of the fault last year came when
Although Shimazaki’s term ended in September and he was replaced, the NRA’s position on the fault was not overturned.
The fault line survey at the Tsuruga plant was originally started at the request of the now-dissolved Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
Fault inspections are a separate process from the safety screenings required to restart reactors, so Japan Atomic Power can still submit an application to resume operations at the reactor.
However, NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka has said he would respect the expert panel’s conclusion when deciding whether to allow reactors to restart.
(This article was written by Chikako Kawahara and Daiki Koga.)