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GEOLOGISTS SAID TODAY that a Japanese nuclear plant may be sited over an active seismic fault, indicating that it will probably be scrapped.
All five experts tasked by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) with investigating the tectonic situation underneath Tsuruga plant in Fukui prefecture said it showed signs of geologically recent movement.
Under government guidelines atomic installations cannot be sited on a fault – the meeting place of two or more of the plates that make up the earth’s crust – if it is still classed as active.
“Active” faults are those that, amongst other things, have moved within the last 120,000-130,000 years.
All but two of Japan’s nuclear reactors remain offline after they were shuttered for regular safety checks in the aftermath of the 2011 crisis at Fukushima, when a huge tsunami generated by an earthquake caused meltdowns.
They must now get the go-ahead from the newly-formed NRA before they can be restarted.
Shunichi Tanaka, head of the regulatory body, said: “I have the impression that we will never be able to go ahead with a safety review (of Tsuruga) for resumption.”
If the body formally decides that the plant, which houses two reactors on the Sea of Japan (East Sea) coast, is sitting above active faults, it is likely to be decommissioned.
The body is separately considering whether the Oi nuclear plant, Japan’s only working atomic power plant which has two reactors and is also in western Japan, sits on an active fault.
Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless by the Fukushima accident and tracts of prime agricultural land were left unfarmable.
Anti-nuclear sentiment is running high in Japan, which used to rely on the technology for around a third of its electricity needs.
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Holy crap I am living in Fukui right now, only 20 minutes from tsuruga! I have heard nothing of this review board(not that I can read the news here)!
Tectonic plates you say… I am going to bug my colleagues about this tomorrow and find out the sca!
I wouldnt be booking the flight home just yet Nigel
Fukui isn’t that seismically active, thats why they built so many reactors there.
Your real problem is that if something does kick off you have mikata, mihama, and Oi all within what 50kms?
I’d be getting out of there quickly.
Still envy you being there. What part of the prefecture are you in and have they finally got a Mr Donut in Tsuruga or is Fukui city the nearest outlet?
These concerns were flagged decades ago by the Japanese peace movement. Of course the scientists thought they knew better than the sandal wearing hippies.
No doubt in 50 years time they’ll eventually wake up to gm food, cloning etc.
Well now..when the coast that gave us the word tsunami is used as a site for a string of nuclear reactors….you know we are in the safe hands of Homer and Mr Burns.
I think what you call ‘scientists’ were actually engineers and corporations masquerading as scientists.
True science never does certitude; its antithetical to scientific heuristic progress by recognition that better theory replaces earlier theory, and that absolutes are history.
Scientific ‘truth’ is always approximation moving towards further refinement. To forget that(not uncommon among ‘scientistic’ believers in their own theories as absolute)is to lapse back into a false and delusional faith-based atavism of religiosity in pseudo-scientific lab-coat.
Where were the “Japanese peace people” when the Japanese attacked Nanking and raped and killed nearly half a million Chinese people?
20,000 people were killed by the tsunami and no one was killed by the nuclaer reactor….so now people are worried about nuclear power. “People” are very weird.
Ya I’m not too worried about the nuclear power plants actually (I wouldn’t have moved to the prefecture with the most nuclear plants if I was). I was surprised to hear that they built them on active fault lines, and only realised now!!
I live in Mihama actually, so I’m bang in the middle of all 3 major sites! I work mainly at Mihama junior high.
Ya we have a mr donuts, and recently a subway in a new mall in tsuruga.
How times have changed.
Still wakasa-side 4 life!
Hah how many years ago were you in Wakasa? There’s another Irish girl in Obama city too!
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