The nation's nuclear watchdog concluded that fault lines running underneath the Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa Prefecture may well be active, throwing the prospect of restarting the facility's reactors into doubt.
The nation's nuclear watchdog concluded that fault lines running underneath the Shika nuclear power plant in Ishikawa Prefecture may well be active, throwing the prospect of restarting the facility's reactors into doubt.
An expert panel of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, comprising NRA Commissioner Akira Ishiwatari and four external specialists, said May 13 the possibility of the Shika plant standing directly above active faults was very real.
But Yutaka Kanai, vice president of Hokuriku Electric Power Co., the plant operator, said: “We take issue with that conclusion.”
Kanai said the utility will present its “arguments at meetings on screening for restarts.”
The NRA panel plans to release a draft report of its conclusions at its next meeting. If the draft is approved, it will be the second time the nuclear watchdog has reported that fault lines directly beneath a nuclear reactor could be active, following the No. 2 reactor of Japan Atomic Power Co.’s Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture.
Although the Shika plant has been taken offline after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster set off the nuclear crisis in Fukushima, Hokuriku Electric has applied to the NRA for screening to restart its No. 2 reactor. The power company is also seeking to resume operations at the No. 1 reactor.
The company insists there are no active faults beneath the reactors and other key facilities on the plant site, but the expert panel said the S-1 fault line, which runs directly beneath the No. 1 reactor, as well as the S-2 and S-6 faults under cooling pipes connected to the No. 1 and No. 2 turbine buildings, may be active.
Stricter safety standards for nuclear power facilities were established after the Fukushima disaster, which ban plant operators from locating reactors and other key equipment directly atop active fault lines.
If Hokuriku Electric is unable to overturn the decision by the NRA panel, the No. 1 reactor will have to be decommissioned. Because piping is considered among key equipment under the new safety standards, the No. 2 reactor may also have to be decommissioned unless the utility relocates the pipes.