Japan's nuclear watchdog said Wednesday it will go ahead with a review of safety compliance measures for Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, even as the utility battles problems at the cleanup of the Fukushima Daiichi facility.
Japan's nuclear watchdog said Wednesday it will go ahead with a review
of safety compliance measures for Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa
nuclear power plant, even as the utility battles problems at the cleanup of the
Fukushima Daiichi facility.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority had previously held off on beginning the
review, saying that Tepco should instead focus on the complex task of
decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi plant following its March 2011 accident
that was the second-worst ever for the nuclear power industry.
Tepco is hoping to restart the No. 6 and 7 reactors at the facility in northern
Japan
and
submitted its application in late September. Certification by the NRA that a
plant meets safety regulations is required for any restart of a nuclear plant. The
regulator was created after the
Fukushima
disaster and has yet to approve any restarts of the nation's 50 reactors.
Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the NRA, said at Wednesday's board meeting that
the regulator has a legal obligation to review applications and that it would
be difficult to delay the process any further.
"I met with the Tepco president the other day and pointed out a few major
issues to which he should pay special attention in the
Fukushima
decommissioning. Their answers were reasonably good," Mr. Tanaka told
reporters in a news conference.
Last Friday, Tepco President Naomi Hirose announced additional plans to improve
the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, including better working
conditions for site workers and higher rates of pay.
However, Mr. Tanaka warned that "if something serious happens at
Fukushima
and
we decide we want Tepco to focus all its efforts there, we may suspend
Kashiwazaki's review process."
He also added that "the review itself will take a longer time than
previously reactors, because this is a totally different design from
others."
Among the 14 reactors that have been submitted to the NRA for safety compliance
reviews, only Tepco's two Kashiwazaki reactors are boiling water reactors. The
remaining 12 are pressurized water reactors.
Before the March 2011 nuclear accident, Tepco had operated three nuclear power
plants: Fukushima Daiichi, Fukushima Daini and Kashiwazaki. The Fukushima Daini
plant didn't suffer any major damage from the disaster, but Tepco so far has no
plans to restart any of the units there.
Cash-strapped Tepco has been lobbying local governments for a restart of
Kashiwazaki to help its dire financial situation.
The NRA doesn't make the final decision whether reactors can be restarted, but
its approval is necessary for any restarts to go ahead.
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