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2012 March 21 - 27 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

NSC validates stress tests on 2 reactors at Oi NPP

Madarame Haruki, chair of the Cabinet Office’s Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC), on March 23 evaluated the primary assessment of stress tests as “valid” on two off-line reactors at the Oi Nuclear Power Plant, but added, “The assessment alone is insufficient.”

The stress test is part of the procedure to reactivate the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors, currently under suspension for regular inspection, at the Kansai Electric Power Co’s Oi NPP in Oi Town in Fukui Prefecture. About 470,000 people live within a 30-kilometer zone from the NPP.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) of the Ministry of Economy has already given the same evaluation. As the technical screening of the 2 reactors has been completed, Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko will make a political decision whether to resume operations of these reactors.

NSC Chair Madarame, however, suggested at an NSC special meeting that the primary assessment alone is insufficient to comprehensively evaluate the safety of the reactors.

The meeting ended after only 5 minutes. An observer in the gallery complained, “It is you, Mr. Madarame, who stated that the primary assessment is insufficient. Are you now giving your stamp of approval?”