Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has instructed its secretariat to go ahead with steps to formally reject a plan to restart unit 2 of Japan Atomic Power Co’s (JAPC’s) the Tsuruga NPP in Fukui Prefecture. Earlier NRA officials concluded that the unit did not meet the strict safety regulations introduced following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
Current safety standards do not permit the installation of safety-critical equipment on an active fault line and NRA said it could not rule out the possibility that a fault line running under the reactor building may be connected to the nearby active “K Fault” some 300 metres north of the unit 2 reactor building. The conclusion was reported to NRA commissioners who have now upheld the judgment.
JAPC had asked for additional surveys to expand data on the fault and revisions to the application to restart the reactor. Regulatory officials interviewed JAPC President Muramatsu Mamoru about details of the additional surveys.
Muramatsu said the surveys would take more than one year, and that the company would formally present its plan in about two months. Noting that the explanation lacked concrete details, NRA officials decided not to accept the request for the additional surveys and instructed the secretariat to draw up a draft assessment saying that the reactor did not meet regulatory standards.
The draft assessment is expected to be compiled in about one month and will be the first time a nuclear reactor has been refused permission to restart since the NRA was established in 2012. JAPC can then either apply for a fresh round of screening, or decommission the reactor. President Muramatsu told reporters that the company still hoped to restart the plant.
