Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2013 July 3 - 9 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

TEPCO will apply for reactivation of NPP while failing to put Fukushima disaster under control

Tokyo Electric Power Company on July 2 decided to apply for assessment by the Nuclear Regulation Authority under the NRA’s new safety requirements for reactivation of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant despite the unchanged status of the plant involved in the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The utility plans to submit an application for the restart of units 6 and 7 reactors at the station as soon as the new requirements come into effect on July 8. However, the power plant, whose units 6 and 7 have nation’s top-class power output capability, has yet to be properly equipped to deal with severe accidents, though that is included in the new requirements. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that the plant is situated on faults.

TEPCO maintains its deep dependence on the “safety myth” which allowed to the utility’s neglect of preparedness against tsunamis and severe accidents which then led to the Fukushima disaster.

Izumida Hirohiko, governor of Niigata Prefecture hosting the power station, has taken a cautious stance toward the reactivation.

Mochida Shigeyoshi, Japanese Communist Party assemblyman of Kashiwazaki City where the plant is located, said, “TEPCO is unqualified to operate nuclear power plants. Although the cause of the Fukushima disaster has yet to be determined, the utility wants to fire up other suspended nuclear reactors following the coming into effect of the new safety standards. It lacks any sense of responsibility for the disaster and continues to disregard the issue of public safety.”