nuclear-news

New nuclear reactor now being built North of Tokyo

Work resumes on Japanese nuclear reactor http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-02/japan-resumes-reactor-work/4290390 By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy,2 Oct 12, A Japanese power firm has resumed construction of an atomic reactor, despite government plans to phase out nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

The reactor – 650 kilometres north of Tokyo – is being built by the J-Power company which had planned to have it operational in two years’ time. The company says it has now resumed construction of the reactor which was halted work after the Fukushima meltdowns.

Economy, trade and industry minister Yukio Edano, who is charged with
supervising the power industry, said the resumption had been a
procedural matter and was a decision by the company.

But he added that the operator of the nuclear plant must still meet
safety standards before power generation can begin there.

Last month, prime minister Yoshihiko Noda’s government adopted a new
energy policy that included the phasing out of nuclear power by 2040,
in what was widely seen as bowing to public pressure after the
Fukushima disaster.

But the policy does allow for partially built reactors to be completed.

The new policy calls for reactors more than 40 years old to be shut
down, plans to build more nuclear reactors to be shelved and existing
reactors only to be restarted if they pass standards issued by a new
regulatory agency.

However the policy has been criticised as unclear, with several
exceptions that could see nuclear power in use well past 2040.

Nuclear energy has become a hot-button issue in Japan before a general
election expected this year.

Protests calling for atomic power to be ditched have attracted tens of
thousands of people.

Japan turned off its 50 reactors in the wake of the Fukushima
disaster, with all but two of them still mothballed in the face of
public opposition to their use.

October 3, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Japan