Japan Press Weekly

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2024 April 17 - 23 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

18 problems caused by major earthquake reported at Shika NPP

At the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors at the Shika Nuclear Power Plant (Ishikawa Pref.), 18 cases of trouble affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake in January have been reported.

Japanese Communist Party representative Kasai Akira, at a meeting of the Lower House Special Committee for Investigation of Nuclear Power Issues on April 18, revealed that the 18 problems included transformer failures and a metal fitting falling off from a control rod drive system.

Kasai said that according to experts, changes that could trigger earthquakes are occurring on a fault running beneath the sea in front of the Shika NPP, and that another fault located nine kilometers from the NPP may have been interlocked with the former fault in the Noto Peninsula earthquake.

Kasai pointed out that inadequate seismic countermeasures led to the nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP (Fukushima Pref.) in March 2011. He asked if the authorities intend to leave the Shika NPP unprepared for the worst-case scenario.

Yamanaka Shinsuke, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), answered, “The Shika NPP has been shut down and the spent fuel pool has been cooled, so the risk of accident is low. We are not considering immediately issuing a cease-and-desist order at this time.”

Kasai said, “The NRA, responsible for protecting people and the environment, should decide to decommission the Shika NPP.”

Past related article:
> JCP Kasai calls for Shika NPP on Noto Peninsula to be decommissioned [February 8, 2024]