July 11, 2012
Japanese Communist Party Upper House member Inoue Satoshi on July 10 warned that a core meltdown might occur at the Oi nuclear power plant, which was reactivated this month, if it is hit by an earthquake as powerful as the 2007 quake that hit the Niigata area.
In response to the JCP representative at a House of Councilors budget committee meeting, Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko said, “I will not reconsider my decision to restart the nuclear reactors,” while stating that he will take into account future discussions on this matter.
According to Inoue, when the magnitude 6.8 earthquake occurred in the Chuetsu region (central Niigata Prefecture) in 2007, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata detected a seismic motion of 1,699 gal, about 4 times more than its standard (450 gal), which caused more than 3,700 accidents and problems at the plant.
The same level of earthquake will exceed the upper limit of seismic motion set in the Oi plant (1,260 gal) as well as at most nuclear power plants in Japan, said Inoue.
While the Japan Meteorological Agency acknowledged that a major earthquake could occur anywhere in Japan, Science Minister Hirano Hirofumi said that the government will wait until the next fiscal year to start research on active sea-bottom faults in the Sea of Japan. Inoue said, “How can you assert that a Chuetsu-level earthquake won’t occur? This is another variation of the nuclear safety myth.”
Referring to a possible active fault running under the Oi plant indicated by experts in the field, Inoue urged the government to suspend the reactivation of the plant and conduct a scientific trenching survey.
Industry Minister Edano Yukio responded by saying that he plans to conduct a public hearing on this issue but stopped short of commenting on Inoue’s proposal of conducting scientific research.
In response to the JCP representative at a House of Councilors budget committee meeting, Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko said, “I will not reconsider my decision to restart the nuclear reactors,” while stating that he will take into account future discussions on this matter.
According to Inoue, when the magnitude 6.8 earthquake occurred in the Chuetsu region (central Niigata Prefecture) in 2007, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata detected a seismic motion of 1,699 gal, about 4 times more than its standard (450 gal), which caused more than 3,700 accidents and problems at the plant.
The same level of earthquake will exceed the upper limit of seismic motion set in the Oi plant (1,260 gal) as well as at most nuclear power plants in Japan, said Inoue.
While the Japan Meteorological Agency acknowledged that a major earthquake could occur anywhere in Japan, Science Minister Hirano Hirofumi said that the government will wait until the next fiscal year to start research on active sea-bottom faults in the Sea of Japan. Inoue said, “How can you assert that a Chuetsu-level earthquake won’t occur? This is another variation of the nuclear safety myth.”
Referring to a possible active fault running under the Oi plant indicated by experts in the field, Inoue urged the government to suspend the reactivation of the plant and conduct a scientific trenching survey.
Industry Minister Edano Yukio responded by saying that he plans to conduct a public hearing on this issue but stopped short of commenting on Inoue’s proposal of conducting scientific research.
