Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Japan’s Regulator Examines Fissure Near Tsuruga Plant

Japan’s Regulator Examines Fissure Near Tsuruga Plant

Industry/Regulatory/Political
  • Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority last week began examining a fissure beneath Japan Atomic Power Co.’s Tsuruga nuclear energy facility in Fukui prefecture to determine whether it is associated with a nearby active fault. NRA officials investigated samples of rock strata extracted in a field survey. If the agency decides that the plant is located above an active fault, the facility’s two reactors are unlikely to be allowed to resume operation. The agency is expected to finalize its assessment after a Dec. 10 meeting. Several other reactors are slated for similar investigations. A separate team last month failed to reach a definitive conclusion about Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Ohi site, where Japan’s only two operating reactors are located.

  • The Japan Atomic Energy Commission submitted a draft proposal to the government suggesting that plans for the “semi-permanent” burial of high-level radioactive glass waste from the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel be revised to allow for retrieval of the waste if more stable disposal areas or better disposal methods are discovered in the future. The JAEC report also said the government should quantify the total amount of waste that would be generated if it limits the operating lifetimes of nuclear reactors to 40 years and bans new reactors.http://safetyfirst.nei.org/japan/japans-regulator-examines-fissure-near-tsuruga-plant/

No comments:

Post a Comment