Japan’s nuclear plants unlikely to restart operations this year: survey
Japan’s nuclear power plants are unlikely to resume operations by the end of the year because of the time it will take to complete safety checks under the new regulatory framework, a survey of the nation’s operators of atomic reactors showed Sunday.
Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi nuclear power station in Fukui Prefecture, which currently boasts the only two operational reactors in the country, is meanwhile scheduled to be suspended for an inspection in September, regardless of the new safety guidelines to be unveiled by the Nuclear Regulation Authority in July, according to the poll.
The survey, which canvassed nine regional utilities and Japan Atomic Power Co., also found that their financial burden is growing as they reinforce safety measures in response to the March 2011 meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 plant.
Power companies expect the cost of implementing the new standards to total at least \1.1 trillion, while Kepco alone said it will require \285.5 billion in the medium- to long-term, according to the survey.
But Kyushu Electric Power Co. was more upbeat, saying it could restart two of its reactors in July, providing the NRA swiftly completes the necessary safety inspections. All of the other nine companies polled declined to provide specific dates for restarting their atomic energy plants.
Although Shikoku Electric Power Co. said it aims to fire up its reactors at the earliest possible time, it has applied for government approval to hike household electricity rates based on the assumption that it will be able to restart its nuclear plant in Ikata, Ehime Prefecture, in July.
The Ikata facility is viewed as the best candidate to be granted approval to resume operations, as its reactors differ in design from those at the Fukushima No. 1 plant and it has enhanced earthquake-resistant facilities in the event of emergencies.
Still, a senior official at the Ikata complex said it will be “impossible to restart (its reactors) by year’s end” unless the NRA conducts its safety inspections more quickly.
NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka has pointed out that atomic power plant safety checks have previously taken between six months and a year to complete, at the very minimum. Although the nuclear watchdog is aiming to speed up the process, broader safety measures under the new standards are expected to make it difficult to complete the inspections by the end of December.
In the period since the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster sparked the Fukushima disaster, the nation has only had to cope with a complete suspension of nuclear power for about two months. All of Japan’s commercial reactors were idled between the halt of Hokkaido Electric Power Co.’s Tomari plant in May 2012 and the restart of the two units at the Oi complex that July.
Kyodo News, March 4, 2013
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/03/04/national/japans-nuclear-plants-unlikely-to-restart-operations-this-year-survey/#.UTVHzDfA55s
Power companies to face tough new standards for nuke reactor restarts
Power companies across the country will apply for permission to reactivate around five nuclear reactors when new safety standards for nuclear power plants go into effect in July, it has been learned.
The new nuclear regulatory agency is expected to take several months after receiving reactivation applications to decide whether or not to give the go-ahead for utilities to restart their reactors. However, because the only reactors currently in operation in Japan — Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi Nuclear Power Plant’s No. 3 and No. 4 units — will also be subject to the new standards, there is a chance that Japan could find itself with zero operating reactors once again.
The Mainichi Shimbun surveyed domestic power companies on steps they are taking toward fulfilling the new safety standards.
One of the key characteristics of the new safety standards includes the construction of new equipment and facilities, such as a second control room or other “designated safety facilities.” Because the newly established Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has not established detailed installation requirements, most utilities held off revealing their progress to the Mainichi, saying they are waiting for the NRA’s specifications.
Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which is hoping to reactivate its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Niigata Prefecture, indicated that it is in the midst of “deliberating a basic concept” for its adherence to the new requirements. Kyushu Electric Power Co., which is aiming to restart its Genkai and Sendai nuclear power plants, also said that it was “conducting specific deliberations.” Power companies are expected to be given three to five years before the new facilities are made a requirement.
All the utilities have either finished building or are slated to build quake-proof facilities like the one that has served as a front-line emergency operations base in the Fukushima disaster. Shikoku Electric Power Co. finished its facility at Ikata Nuclear Power Plant in late 2011, fulfilling one criterion for reactor reactivation. The NRA has not yet decided whether it will give utilities individual deadlines on this criterion, but if that turns out to be the case, it could water down the effect of the new safety standards.
TECPO has begun work on installing filtered vent systems at the No. 1 and No. 7 reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. Chubu Electric Power Co. has also said it will begin the same work at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant soon, but predicts it will take two to three years to complete. The NRA plans to make filtered vents a requirement for boiling water reactors (BWRs) — the same type as the reactors at the stricken Fukushima plant — in July, at the time the new standards go into effect. This will make it difficult to resume operations of the 26 BWRs, located primarily in eastern Japan, at an early date.
Meanwhile, utilities will likely be allowed more time to install filtered vents on the 24 pressurized water reactors (PWRs) in Japan, found mostly in the western part of the country, since their containment vessels are relatively large and their furnace pressures take more time to rise than in BWRs.
The new safety standards also include more stringent measures against fire, including the use of flame-resistant cables. Currently, flammable cables are used in at least 13 reactors. Since about 1,000 to 2,000 kilometers’ worth of cables are used per reactor, inspecting and replacing all of them is bound to take a significant amount of time.
The stipulation that limits a reactor’s operational life to 40 years is also expected to make it into the new standards. Three of Japan’s reactors began operations over 40 years ago, and 14 have been in operation for over 30. If the rule is strictly applied, some reactors are likely to be decommissioned. Chugoku Electric Power Co. is weighing the cost-effectiveness of installing filtered vents on the No. 1 reactor at its Shimane Nuclear Power Plant, which began operations 39 years ago, saying, “We’ll consider the specifics of the 40-year rule in making our decision.”
When the power companies were asked whether they had any requests for the NRA, Kansai Electric Power Co. responded, “We’d like (the NRA) to exchange ideas with the utilities.”
Meanwhile, rules on active faults on plant properties were completely revamped under the new safety standards’ quake and tsunami measures. Faults were heretofore inspected for any activity in the last 120,000 to 130,000 years. Starting in July, if no activity is detected within that time, the fault must be inspected for activity in the last 400,000 years.
Under the new standards, the construction of important facilities above active faults will be explicitly prohibited by law for the first time. The NRA will also demand the construction of coastal levees based on data on the biggest possible tsunami that could strike each of the country’s reactors.
Following further deliberation by the NRA on the 40-year operation rule and deadlines for the new requirements, the new safety standards will be legislated and go into effect by July 18.
Mainichi Shimbun, February 28, 2013
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130228p2a00m0na015000c.html
Abe vows to restart Japan nuclear reactors in policy speech
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave the first governmental policy speech of his second administration before the House of Representatives on Feb. 28, declaring his intention to restart Japan’s nuclear reactors as soon as they were judged safe.
“We will create a new culture of safety under the aegis of the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), and restart reactors confirmed safe,” Abe told the regular Diet session, his wording straying slightly but significantly from his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s coalition agreement with New Komeito stating that restart decisions would be left to NRA experts.
Mainichi Shimbun, February 28, 2013
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130228p2a00m0na014000c.html
More reactors to restart if safety verified: Amari
The government will permit the restart of more nuclear reactors if their safety is confirmed, economic revitalization minister Akira Amari said Thursday.
He made the remark in a meeting in Tokyo with Kansai Economic Federation Chairman Shosuke Mori, who asked that idled reactors be reactivated swiftly once they are deemed safe.
It is “extremely important” to ensure stable supply of low-cost energy for the sake of the economy, Amari told Mori, the chairman of Kansai Electric Power Co.
Units 3 and 4 at Kansai Electric’s Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture are the only reactors currently in operation in Japan, while the 48 others remain idled mainly because of the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
The two Oi reactors resumed operations last July.
In a related move, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will start discussions in March on a new basic energy policy, including the future of nuclear power, officials said.
A subgroup of the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, which advises the head of METI, will begin its talks in midmonth, the officials said.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning a full rethink of the existing energy policy, which calls for lowering JapanÅfs reliance on nuclear energy to zero by the 2030s.
The policy was put in place by the Democratic Party of Japan-led government in September in response to the Fukushima catastrophe, which started in March 2011. Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party knocked the DPJ from power in the December election.
The subpanel will have about 15 members, some 40 percent fewer than a previous committee group that handled the topic. The reduction is expected to mainly affect members who oppose nuclear power.
Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. adviser Akio Mimura will chair the new subgroup after holding the same role in the previous subgroup.
Jiji Press, March 1, 2013
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/03/01/national/more-reactors-to-restart-if-safety-verified-amari/#.UTFarjfA55s