Request of Immediate Halt

Governor of Kagoshima, Satoshi Mitazono, requested Kyushu Electric Power Company on Friday to immediately suspend the operation of reactors in Sendai Nuclear Power Plant and reconfirm the safety of the plant. It is highly unusual for a governor to demand stopping operation of nuclear reactors. President of KEPCO, Michiaki Uriu, replied that he would bring it back to the company and consider the request. Although it is unlikely for KEPCO to accept it, discussion over nuclear safety, which has been a fundamental agenda in Japanese society after the severe accident in First Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant five years ago, will be reactivated.

In the letter of request, Mitazono insisted that KEPCO was responsible for taking sincere consideration on uneasiness of the residents in Kagoshima Prefecture, where Sendai plant was located. He demanded immediate halt of the reactors, check and verify the safety of whole facilities and devices and reconfirm its safety. When he visited the place around the plant earlier this month, the residents were worried about viability of evacuation plan in emergency, which was insufficient in securing roads and vehicles necessary for evacuation. Mitazono asked appropriate measures for those subjects and accurate delivery of information.

KEPCO is going to send an answer to the request by early September. Passing new regulatory standard laid by Nuclear Regulation Authority, nuclear reactor in Sendai plant was the first example of resuming operation after all the reactors in Japan had stopped. As long as the operation cannot be determined as illegal, KEPCO will keep the reactors on working until scheduled inspection planned later this year.

However, Nuclear Disaster Preparedness Special Measures Act determines that the governor who has nuclear power plant in the prefecture needs to exercise the plan for protecting people’s life, body or property from nuclear disaster. In the safety agreement between Kagoshima Prefecture and KEPCO, governor can request appropriate measures, when he finds a necessity for maintaining safety of residents. Mitazono has certain power of restriction.

Consecutive earthquakes in Kumamoto, located next to Kagoshima, precipitated the people around the plant into a deep concern of serious nuclear disaster. While the guideline of national government for evacuation assumes suffered people to be staying in their house, earthquake can easily break the houses down, leaving the residents outside and exposed to radiation. Evacuation plan is inevitably the focus of discussion over nuclear power generation.