Japanese Nuclear Plant Is First to Get Go-Ahead Under New Rules By REUTERS JULY 16, 2014 TOKYO — A nuclear plant in southern Japan cleared an initial safety hurdle on Wednesday that could make it the first nuclear facility to restart under new safety regulations designed after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing to end the prolonged shutdown of the country’s nuclear plants, which has forced Japan to rely on expensive fossil fuel imports. But he has faced deep wariness from the public, which has slowed his efforts to restart plants that were idled after the disaster. The Nuclear Regulation Authority gave preliminary safety approval for Kyushu Electric Power Company’s Sendai plant, accepting its upgraded design and safety features. The new standards feature safeguards meant to protect the plant in natural disasters, like the earthquake and tsunami that caused a meltdown at the Fukushima site . Although the approval is a significant step toward beginning the process of restarting the idled plants, the government might still face hurdles since it has said it will defer to local communities to give final approval on reopening nuclear facilities. The pro-nuclear governor of the prefecture where the plant is located and the mayor of Satsumasendai, the plant’s host city, are likely to approve the decision, but many nearby townships oppose what some consider a hasty restart. More than half of the 30,000 residents in Ichikikushikino, a coastal town about three miles from the plant, recently submitted a petition opposing a restart, citing what they called an unrealistic and inefficient evacuation plan. The decision by the regulators comes at a politically troubled time for Mr. Abe, who already is facing resistance to his plans to reinterpret the pacifist constitution to allow the country’s self- defense forces to take a more assertive role in the region. In addition, although opponents of nuclear power have so far gained little political traction, a candidate backed by Mr. Abe’s party lost a regional election on Sunday, partly over concerns about nuclear safety. The reactors were gradually taken offline after the disaster three years ago as the government promised to enact better safeguards against another catastrophe. But many politicians, including Mr. Abe, worry that Japan’s economy cannot flourish without nuclear power, which they consider a cheaper alternative to fossil fuels. The public, however, remains concerned that regulators will not adequately protect the country from any shortcuts on safety taken by the powerful nuclear industry. Lax oversight and cozy relations have been blamed for helping doom the Fukushima plant. The Nuclear Regulation Authority, an independent watchdog set up in 2012, has been vetting applications for plants to restart for more than a year. Sendai’s approval comes as a relief for Kyushu Electric, which has posted three years of losses and has asked for a bailout by a state-backed bank. It expects to spend more than $3 billion to upgrade its two nuclear plants in southern Japan. The regulators’ decision will also help the broader nuclear industry. The approval process for the five other plants with similar reactors will likely go more quickly, said Tomoya Ichimura of the Nuclear Regulation Authority. Nine of Japan’s electric utilities have applied to restart 19 reactors. Activists and protesters crowded the regulatory commission’s open meeting on Wednesday, yelling at commissioners to vote against the safety review and to halt restarts. In a statement, Greenpeace said that the plant has “no effective evacuation plan for the populations in the region, in particular for the elderly, children and those in hospital, no functioning emergency-response center protected against radiation.” The nuclear commission will seek public comment on its decision for a month before issuing its final ruling.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Jul 2014 03:44:30 +0000
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