Great Race for Resumption

Power companies embarked on the race for resumption of their own nuclear generation plants for their survival of their own. The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Monday enforced a new regulation for the operation of nuclear power plants in Japan. Four companies submitted the requests for NRA’s examination on the safety measures for their nuclear power plants, while Tokyo Electric Power Company could not get on its mark with no perspective of allowance from local government on Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. Requiring long time for the exam, the first decision of resuming halted nuclear plant will be in early next year.

The submission was done for ten reactors in five plants owned by four companies. Hokkaido Power Company requested the exam on three reactors in Tomari plant, Kansai did it for four reactors in Takahama and Oi, Shikoku asked it for one in Ikata and Kyusyu for two in Sendai. Total pieces of papers they submitted amounted to thirty-six thousands.

Each plant has its own problem. Tomari has a possibility of being affected by interaction of active faults around the site with one hundred miles length. Takahama is located on the land with 3.5 meters higher than sea level. Although Kansai Company predicts tsunami with 2.6 meters at most, there always is a risk of greater tsunami than expected. Oi, only in operation, does not assume the interaction of three active faults around it. There are active volcanoes around Sendai site, which can affect the operation when they explode. Located along an inland sea, Ikata has the lowest risk of suffering from great tsunami, raising it on the position of top runner.

NRA started to check the papers with eighty employees divided in three teams. They closely look into several reactors on whether measures for severe accident, quake or tsunami are appropriate. Although the Chairman of NRA, Shun-ichi Tanaka, said he would do his best to conclude as early as possible, it will take around a half year. Even though a company passes the exam, it needs to get an agreement of the governor of local government, which Tokyo failed to have good perspective to get by Monday.

The problem, however, is not only about safety. The questions are about how many reactors we need, how long we are going to use them, and how much they cost if they are broken. Companies are too narrow-minded in maintaining itself, not in providing stable electricity to the public, to get clear answers for those questions. It is also the responsibility of the government of Japan to draw a picture of the future of energy supply.