Japan Press Weekly

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2018 August 8 - 14 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Reactor under construction in Shimane will undergo approval process

A reactor being constructed at the Shimane nuclear power plant (Matsue City, Shimane Pref.), the only NPP located in a prefectural capital in Japan, will receive a conformity inspection amid a mountain of unresolved issues.

The Chugoku Electric Power Co., Inc. on August 10 applied to the Nuclear Regulation Authority for a conformance review of the Shimane NPP's No.3 reactor which is now under construction.

In a 30-kilometer zone from the plant in the prefectures of Shimane and Tottori, about 470,000 people live. There exists an active fault called "Shinji Fault" running in an east-west direction to 2-kilometer south of the NPP. There still remain a lot of questions such as the feasibility of evacuation plans in the event of a nuclear accident.

The latest application is the second one with regard to an uncompleted reactor following an Oma NPP reactor (Aomori Pref.) after nuclear meltdowns occurred in Fukushima Prefecture seven years ago.

Operations of a new reactor means that people will be kept being exposed to the danger of unexpected nuclear accidents beyond the second half of this century, and also radioactive waste will keep piling up without any definitive solution to safe disposal of the waste.

Hobo Takehiko, professor emeritus of Shimane University, pointed out that NPP-hosting Shimane Prefecture, Matsue City, and the other surrounding municipalities have always been submissive toward the central government and never listened to residents' views, and that this has led to the construction of yet another nuclear reactor. Hobo criticized these local governments for giving up local autonomy, and expressed concern that the opinions and requests of local residents would not be heard and that nothing would be objectively and scientifically evaluated under present conditions.

Past related articles:
> Riddled with active faults, Japan is in no condition to have NPPs [April 16, 2016]
> Former nuclear power plant worker testifies to obtain compensation [May 10, 2012]
> Within 30 km radius of Shimane N-plant [May 30, 2011]