Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Nuclear Energy News .




CIVIL NUCLEAR
Japan nuclear reactor atop active fault: regulator
by Staff Writers
Tokyo (AFP) May 22, 2013


Japan's nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that one reactor was sitting directly above an active tectonic fault, effectively ruling out a restart forever.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said it had approved a report from experts which found a crack in the Earth's crust lying underneath the reactor at a plant in Tsuruga, western Japan, was active.

"There is a need for us to take the report seriously," NRA chairman Shunichi Tanaka said.

It is the first time the newly-minted NRA has made such a ruling. It is still investigating possibly-active faults under five other reactors. A second reactor at Tsuruga, which sits 300 metres (328 yards) away, is not one of this number.

The final decision on a restart rests with the government, who are expected to be asked by plant operator Japan Atomic Power to overrule the watchdog.

Observers say despite its pro-nuclear stance, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration is unlikely to risk public ire by backing the operator, meaning the reactor would become the first to be permanently shuttered since the Fukushima disaster.

Only two of Japan's 50 nuclear reactors have been restarted after being switched off for safety checks in the aftermath of the tsunami-sparked catastrophe in March 2011, where reactors went into meltdown.

Government rules ban nuclear reactors and other facilities with important safety functions from being located directly above "active faults", which are currently defined as those that have moved in the last 120,000-130,000 years.

The NRA experts spent more than five months looking at the bedrock under the reactor and said they could not say with certainty that the fault was not active.

Japan Atomic Power, which maintains the fault is not active, said it would continue conducting its own investigations.

Since Abe became prime minister last December, observers have speculated it is just a matter of time before idled reactors are restarted, with industry pleading for a cheaper electricity supply than that coming from fossil fuel plants in use now.

The Abe government has also resumed Japan's drive to export nuclear plants. On May 3, Japan signed a deal to build a plant on Turkey's Black Sea coast.

.


Related Links
Nuclear Power News - Nuclear Science, Nuclear Technology
Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








CIVIL NUCLEAR
Belgium to re-start two reactors halted since 2012
Brussels (AFP) May 17, 2013
Electrabel, part of the giant French group GDF-Suez, said Friday it will restart two nuclear reactors closed down in 2012 after micro-cracks were found in them, sparking fears about their safety in the aftermath of Japan's Fukushima disaster. Belgium's nuclear safety authority, AFCN, "authorises the restarting of the Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactors," Electrabel said in a statement. "Electr ... read more


CIVIL NUCLEAR
Bacteria use hydrogen, carbon dioxide to produce electricity

U.S. said well-positioned to grow pond scum as fuel source

Scientists develop 'green' pretreatment of Miscanthus for biofuels

WELTEC BIOPOWER constructs 1.8 MW plant in Finland

CIVIL NUCLEAR
ProtekPark Solar Launches REVIVE Line for Quick and Efficient Solar Parking and EV Charging Integration

Empower Energies Completes Four Solar Projects for General Motors

Boston's Largest Solar Rooftop Development Brought to Life by FireFlower Alternative Energy

Walmart Announces Completion of Eight New Solar Arrays in Massachusetts

CIVIL NUCLEAR
Not just blowing in the wind: Compressing air for renewable energy storage

Goldman Sachs to invest in Japan green energy

Morocco to harness the wind in energy hunt

Scotland approves 640-foot prototype offshore wind turbine

CIVIL NUCLEAR
New report identifies strategies to achieve net-zero energy homes

Finnish researchers to provide solutions for energy-efficient repairs in residential districts in Moscow

Paraguay ups stakes in electricity row with Brazil, Argentina

EU says emissions down, but pollution scheme falters

CIVIL NUCLEAR
Cotton offers a new ecologically friendly way to clean up oil spills

Oettinger: EU studying 'fracking' as it seeks to cut energy prices

EU leaders look to energy for growth boost

IMF urges Iraq to build fiscal buffers

CIVIL NUCLEAR
Critical Kepler Reaction Wheel Fails: Mission End In Sight

Sifting Through the Atmosphere's of Far-Off Worlds

New Method of Finding Planets Scores its First Discovery

Team Takes Part in Discovering New Planet

CIVIL NUCLEAR
Canadian defense shipbuilding at risk of running aground

Former UK aircraft carrier towed to Turkey for scrap

Babcock wins engineering support contract

Austal expands maintenance, repair network

CIVIL NUCLEAR
Mars Rover Opportunity Examines Clay Clues in Rock

Opportunity Rides Into History For Offworld Drive

NASA Mars Rover Curiosity Drills Second Rock Target

Mars Icebreaker Life Mission




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement