nuclear-news

Doubtful that Japan’s nuclear reactors will restart, even with safety clearance

Safety Clearance for Japan Reactors Won’t Guarantee Restarts WSJ, By MARI IWATA  July 14, 2014 Gaining Local Approval Could Be Stumbling Block TOKYO—A victory by an antinuclear candidate in a local election points to the difficulty of restarting Japan’s nuclear reactors, all 48 of which are currently offline until they can pass new safety standards and gain local approval for restarting.

The nation’s nuclear regulator said Monday it was planning to release its review of two reactors in southern Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture on Wednesday, an indication of progress in efforts to get nuclear power in Japan back in operation. People on both sides of the nuclear debate have said the two reactors are likely to pass the technical review. But even then, the two units face local opposition and aren’t certain to restart soon. Japan’s other reactors likely face longer waits.

The election of antinuclear candidate Taizo Mikazuki as governor of Shiga prefecture on Sunday is a reminder of the continuing opposition to nuclear restarts in many areas bordering regions that host nuclear plants. Shiga prefecture is located next to Fukui prefecture, home to more than a dozen nuclear reactors. Mr. Mikazuki defeated a candidate backed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and succeeds an incumbent with antinuclear views who had insisted on having a say about restarting the Fukui reactors………..the government would continue to back restarts of nuclear reactors deemed safe by the nation’s Nuclear Regulation Authority.

The regulator, however, has said its decisions shouldn’t be treated as authoritative proof of safety……….

Some towns near the Kagoshima reactors have expressed concern about restarts. In one city within 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) of the two units, more than half of the approximately 30,000 residents signed a petition seeking to keep the units closed until better evacuation plans are adopted. The city council of another nearby city on Friday passed a motion objecting to restarts of the units.

Junji Annen, a professor at Chuo University and the head of a government panel that discusses electricity prices, said the current approval system is likely to produce gridlock since no single entity is in charge of pressing the nuclear-restart button. “The problem is nobody in Japan has any legal authority to enforce nuclear-power operations. Mr. Abe has to do something about the legal void if he thinks nuclear power is necessary,” Mr. Annen said.

The prime minister may hesitate to get heavily involved in decisions to restart nuclear reactors because his approval ratings have fallen recently after his unpopular decision to expand the potential role of Japanese military in international conflicts……….

In a poll by Jiji Press in early June, 51% of respondents supported Mr. Abe’s cabinet, but 52% said they were against restarting nuclear-power plants even if they were approved by the NRA.

—Toko Sekiguchi contributed to this article.http://online.wsj.com/articles/safety-clearance-for-japan-reactors-wont-guarantee-restarts-1405340244

July 16, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, safety