nuclear-news

Japan’s Shika nuclear power plant on top of an active earthquake fault?

 Shika nuclear plant may sit on active fault Confirmation could doom facility; others probed Japan Times, 17 July 12 Kyodo Government research indicates the fault running beneath Hokuriku Electric Power Co.’s Shika Nuclear Power Station may be active, raising questions  about the utility’s claim in the late 1990s to the contrary, according to sources.

Government regulations do not allow construction of a nuclear reactor above an active fault. If it is confirmed active, the Shika nuclear plant in Ishikawa Prefecture may not qualify to operate.

The plant is currently shut down for scheduled safety checks plus the
state-ordered stress tests introduced because of the crisis at Tokyo
Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 plant.

The research by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency shows the
fault — named S-1, which runs southeast to northwest within the
plant’s premises — moved sometime after 130,000 to 120,000 years ago,
the sources said Monday.

Hokuriku Electric Power conducted excavation surveys when it applied
in 1997 to build a second reactor at the plant and claimed it found
the fault “does not indicate activity.”

In a review of fault lines after the Great East Japan Earthquake of
March 11, 2011, NISA went through excavation data presented by
Hokuriku Electric and concluded the research indicated the strong
possibility that S-1 may have been active in a relatively recent
period….. Citizens are calling for research into Kansai Electric
Power Co.’s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui, which also has a soft
fault layer. Reactor 3 has been restarted at the Kepco plant and
reactor 4’s operations are in the process of being resumed.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120717x1.html#.UAaKJWGe5dM

July 17, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety