nuclear-news

Dangerous to restart Japan’s nuclear reactors, warn seismologists

Seismic modelling by Japan’s nuclear regulator did not properly take into account active fault lines near the Ohi plant, Katsuhiko Ishibashi, a seismologist at Kobe University, told reporters.

“Instead of making standards more strict, they both represent a severe setback in safety standards.”

Seismologists warn Japan against nuclear restart http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL3E8HQ43L20120626  TOKYO, June 26 (Reuters) – Two prominent seismologists said on Tuesday that Japan is ignoring the safety lessons of last year’s Fukushima crisis and warned against restarting two reactors next month.

Japan has approved the restart of the two reactors at the Kansai
Electric Power Ohi nuclear plant, northwest of Tokyo, despite mass
public opposition.

They will be the first to come back on line after all reactors were
shut following a massive earthquake and tsunami last March that caused
the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl at Tokyo Electric Power’s
Daiichi Fukushima plant.

Seismic modelling by Japan’s nuclear regulator did not properly take into account active fault lines near the Ohi plant, Katsuhiko Ishibashi, a seismologist at Kobe University, told reporters.

“The stress tests and new safety guidelines for restarting nuclear
power plants both allow for accidents at plants to occur,” Ishibashi
told reporters. “Instead of making standards more strict, they both
represent a severe setback in safety standards.”

Experts advising Japan’s nuclear industry had underestimated the
seismic threat, Mitsuhisa Watanabe, a tectonic geomorphology professor
at Tokyo University, said at the same news conference.

“The expertise and neutrality of experts advising Japan’s Nuclear
Industrial Safety Agency are highly questionable,” Watanabe said.

After an earthquake in 2007 caused radiation leaks at reactors north
of Tokyo, Ishibashi said Japan was at risk of a nuclear disaster
following a large earthquake, a warning that proved prescient after
Fukushima.

While it is impossible to predict when earthquakes will happen,
Ishibashi said on Tuesday the magnitude 9 quake last year made it more
likely “devastating” earthquakes would follow. (Reporting by Aaron
Sheldrick; Editing by Ed Lane)

June 27, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety