Japan’s nuclear regulator ruled on Wednesday that a reactor in Fukui Prefecture had failed safety checks to restart, the first such case since the regulator was established following the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011.
The No. 2 reactor at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant, operated by Japan Atomic Power Co., failed to meet safety requirements because there was a possible active fault under the offline unit. The nuclear regulator will seek public comment on its assessment report before officially announcing its decision, likely in October.
In earthquake-prone Japan, the construction of reactors or other important safety facilities directly above active faults is prohibited.
Japan Atomic Power initially applied for the safety review in the hope of being able to restart the reactor in November 2015.
Aerial photo taken in July 2024 shows the No. 2 reactor at Japan Atomic Power Co.’s Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture. (Kyodo)
But an NRA safety review team concluded in July that it could not be ruled out that an active fault about 300 meters north of the reactor building might extend beneath the plant.
The assessment process for the reactor has been rocky. The process was suspended twice after it was revealed that Japan Atomic Power had submitted documents containing inaccuracies and data that had been rewritten without authorization. In August last year, the company reapplied.
The Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant consists of two units, with reactor No. 1 to be scrapped.
Reactor No. 2, which began commercial operation in February 1987, was taken offline in May 2011.
In 2012, Japan overhauled its regulatory system with the introduction of the NRA and also introduced a number of new safety requirements to take into account the lessons learned from the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., which was triggered by a major earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
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