Not Safe But

Nuclear Regulation Authority assessed that two reactors in Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima prefecture fulfilled new standard of regulation the government of Japan laid out after disastrous accident in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant three years ago. However, NRA rejected determining whether Sendai plant was safe or not. It put emergency evacuation plan under local government. All nuclear reactors in Japan recognized malfunction of regulation system as green light for resumption.

New regulation standard demanded all nuclear power plants to make emergency policy for severe accident in earthquake or tsunami. Clearing standard for earthquake and tsunami in March, Sendai has been the top runner for resuming its operation. After receiving public comments for a month, NRA is supposed to announce official announcement to Sendai in November.

On evacuation plan made by local government, the authority refused to comment, claiming that it was not authorized to do that. Alternative control room, which will be important in case main control room is shut down, has yet been built. Ventilation system with filter, which will be necessary for limiting radioactive materials in exhaling air from the plant, will be settled in 2016. Necessary safeguarding system will not be aligned by resumption this fall.

There are some active volcanoes around Sendai plant. It is possible that pyroclastic flow with over five hundred degrees Celsius will come down to the plant with speed of sixty mph in the time of major explosion. In spite of no concrete plan to avoid it, NRA ignored this risk.

The chairman of NRA, Shun-ichi Tanaka, refused to say Senday was safe. “They would be power company, regional residents and national government who decide the resumption. We have nothing to do with it,” Tanaka told. On the other side, Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, told that the government depended on NRA in the assessment of safety. Abe administration and NRA were pushing responsibility on each other.

Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, sees only positive impact of nuclear plants resumption on economy. In the situation of higher oil price, which affects thermal power generation, Abe goes forward to resume all the power plants. Sendai must become the first attempt for that goal. Voices from Fukushima, which strongly appeal not to be dependent on nuclear power, have not heard at all. Is it the time for the Japanese to forget incredible disaster, which confiscated houses, land and local community for over one hundred thousand people?