August 13, 2016
In defiance of mounting public opposition, Shikoku Electric Power Company on August 12 restarted No. 3 reactor at its Ikata Nuclear Power Plant (Ehime Prefecture). This is the fifth reactor reactivated under the current nuclear safety standards introduced after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown.
An opinion poll which a local daily, Ehime Shimbun, conducted last month showed that 54% of the respondents gave a negative response to the reactivation. The daily in its editorial on August 12 pointed out that the reactivation is “totally unacceptable” because it has yet to obtain public consent. In Oita Prefecture, which is on the opposite coast and will receive evacuees from Ehime in the event of an accident, a local paper ran an article critical of restarting the Ikata NPP. The local daily said that the Ikata NPP is a source of anxiety to Oita residents and that to resume the operations of the NPP is “intolerable”.
Many experts have also been arguing that putting the Ikata NPP back online is a reckless act because Japan’s largest active fault lies just 6-8 km away from the NPP.
The Ikata NPP is located near Sadamisaki Peninsula. If a large earthquake causes both a nuclear accident and a tsunami, about 5,000 people living on the peninsula would be isolated and unable to evacuate.
Under the current evacuation plan, if a powerful earthquake causes severe damage to the nuclear reactors at the Ikata NPP, about 110,000 residents living within a 5-30 km radius from the plant will be ordered to stay in their houses to avoid radiation exposure. However, this would be disastrous given that an initial earthquake could be followed by similarly powerful ones as was the case in the recent serial earthquakes in Kumamoto.
The Ikata NPP should be taken offline without delay.
Past related articles:
> Restarting of Ikata Nuclear Power Plant unjustifiable [July 20, 2015]
> Nuclear accident may isolate residents on peninsula in Ikata [January 22, 2014]
An opinion poll which a local daily, Ehime Shimbun, conducted last month showed that 54% of the respondents gave a negative response to the reactivation. The daily in its editorial on August 12 pointed out that the reactivation is “totally unacceptable” because it has yet to obtain public consent. In Oita Prefecture, which is on the opposite coast and will receive evacuees from Ehime in the event of an accident, a local paper ran an article critical of restarting the Ikata NPP. The local daily said that the Ikata NPP is a source of anxiety to Oita residents and that to resume the operations of the NPP is “intolerable”.
Many experts have also been arguing that putting the Ikata NPP back online is a reckless act because Japan’s largest active fault lies just 6-8 km away from the NPP.
The Ikata NPP is located near Sadamisaki Peninsula. If a large earthquake causes both a nuclear accident and a tsunami, about 5,000 people living on the peninsula would be isolated and unable to evacuate.
Under the current evacuation plan, if a powerful earthquake causes severe damage to the nuclear reactors at the Ikata NPP, about 110,000 residents living within a 5-30 km radius from the plant will be ordered to stay in their houses to avoid radiation exposure. However, this would be disastrous given that an initial earthquake could be followed by similarly powerful ones as was the case in the recent serial earthquakes in Kumamoto.
The Ikata NPP should be taken offline without delay.
Past related articles:
> Restarting of Ikata Nuclear Power Plant unjustifiable [July 20, 2015]
> Nuclear accident may isolate residents on peninsula in Ikata [January 22, 2014]
