nuclear-news

Japan’s Tsuruga nuclear plant over an active earthquake fault

Fault under Tsuruga nuclear plant could trigger M7.4 quake: research TOKYO Mainichi Daily News, 6 March 12, (Kyodo) — An active fault running under the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors at Japan Atomic Power Co.’s Tsuruga nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture is at least 35 kilometers long and could trigger an earthquake with a magnitude of around 7.4, much higher than previously anticipated, a team of government-affiliated researchers said Monday.

“The worst-case scenario should be taken into consideration” as other faults on the south side of the Urasoko fault could become activated together, warned Yuichi Sugiyama, leader of the research team at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology….. According to Sugiyama, a member of an expert panel of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the research team analyzed sonic survey and other data from Japan Atomic Power, finding that multiple faults exist 2 to 3 km from the Urasoko fault.

The faults are highly likely to be activated together, extending the length of the Urasoko fault to 35 km, Sugiyama said.

The power company and the agency have not taken the presence of the oceanic faults into account in assessing the safety of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant.

The Urasoko fault, already displaced vertically and horizontally, is expected to cause a total displacement of more than 3 meters if it becomes active….. Sugiyama said the Urasoko fault could be displaced by up to nearly 5 meters if activated together with other faults.

Japan Atomic Power is examining the possibility, pointed out by experts, that many faults located under a reactor building on the west side of the Urasoku fault will move simultaneously…. http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120306p2g00m0dm081000c.html

March 7, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety