Japan Press Weekly

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2015 May 27 - June 2 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Violent volcanic eruption increasing public anxieties about safety of Sendai NPP

The volcano on Kuchinoerabu Island in Kagoshima Prefecture on May 29 violently exploded for the first time in 34 years. The eruption will prompt questions about the nuclear watchdog’s green light to restart the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in the prefecture.

Mount Shindake on the island is one of 47 active volcanoes across Japan, such as Mt. Ontake (Nagano and Gifu prefs.) and Mt. Hakone (Kanagawa Pref.), of which the Meteorological Agency is conducting 24-hour remote monitoring. Since August last year, the mountain has shown sign of volcanic activity. However, Takeo Minoru, professor at the University of Tokyo, Volcano Research Center, said, “For the past few days, no major volcanic tremors were reported.” This again indicated the difficulty in predicting a volcanic eruption accurately.

Mt. Shindake is also one of 14 active volcanoes within 160 km from the Sendai nuclear power station. The new safety standards require nuclear power plant operators to make preparations for an eruption of a volcano located within a 160km-radius of their nuclear power plants.

Kyushu Electric Power Company, the operator of the Sendai power plant, in examination of its application for the restart of the plant, only cited “monitoring” of the 14 volcanoes as a preparation measure. The Nuclear Regulation Authority recently decided to give permission for the restart as the plant satisfies the safety requirements.


Past related articles:
> Kagoshima district court refuses to block restarting Sendai nuclear power plant [April 23, 2015]
> Volcanologists: nuclear regulator overly optimistic about danger of volcanic eruptions [November 4, 2014]
> Volcanologists question the safety of Sendai NPP [September 9, 2014]