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 The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said Kyushu Electric Power
Co's Sendai plant in southwestern Japan had met safety requirements
needed to restart, as the country nears the end of its first full
year without nuclear power since 1966.
The two-reactor nuclear power station still needs to pass
operational safety checks as well as win the approval of local
authorities. If it clears those hurdles, it could restart in early
2015, media have said.
The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been keen to revive
reactors that receive safety approval from the NRA to reduce Japan's
reliance on expensive imported fuel. But public mistrust of nuclear
power remains high after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the worst
since Chernobyl in 1986.
To help reassure the public, the government is pressing utilities to
consider permanently closing the oldest of the country's 48
reactors, which face higher safety hurdles than the rest. The cull
of those that are 40 years old or more could mean the
decommissioning of a quarter of the reactors.
NRA chief Shunichi Tanaka said there would probably be reactors that
did not meet the regulatory commission's standards and therefore
would not be restarted.
The NRA does not have the power to order a decommissioning but the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which oversees the electric
power companies, has begun asking them to make the tough decision on
whether to take out the oldest facilities.
"I would like to proceed with smooth decommissioning (of some
plants) and at the same time the restart of nuclear power stations
certified as safe," Yuko Obuchi, the trade minister, said last week.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Wednesday
the government would respect the regulator's decision and restart
reactors that meet the NRA's tough standards.
The push for a reckoning on some plants is "clearly part of the
strategy by the government and utilities to send a signal to the
people of Japan that they are listening and taking into account the
lessons of Fukushima," said prominent nuclear-power critic Arnie
Gundersen, director of Fairewinds Energy Education.
"But it also reflects the challenge faced by utilities in finding
the funds to bring older reactors to a standard that can pass NRA
approval," Gunderson, a veteran U.S. nuclear engineer who turned
against nuclear energy for safety reasons, said by email.
Under post-Fukushima rules, reactors are supposed to be
decommissioned after 40 years. They can receive a 20-year extension
but that is subject to more rigorous and costly safety regulations.
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As many as two-thirds of Japan's 48 idled nuclear units may never
return to operation because of the high costs, local opposition or
seismic risks, while one-third will probably come back online
eventually, a Reuters analysis showed this year. LOCAL HESITATION
The NRA gave the Sendai plant, about 1,000 km (600 miles) southwest
of Tokyo, its safety clearance at a meeting on Wednesday after
granting preliminary approval in July.
The approval certifies the upgraded design and safety features of
the reactors but the units, which have been shut for more than three
years, still have to undergo operational safety checks and be given
the green light by local authorities.
The mayor of Satsumasendai, where the plant is located, and the
governor of Kagoshima prefecture are in favor of reopening it, but
residents remain concerned about evacuation plans. Activists have
also said the regulator has done little to vet volcanic risks near
the plant.
Utilities that want to extend the operating life of old reactors
must submit detailed safety applications by July 2015, explaining
how those facilities could be updated to meet the tough new safety
standards.
However, the capacity of the ageing reactors is typically about half
that of newer ones and the massive investment needed to bring them
up to scratch may not make economic sense.
The government may ask the operators of 12 reactors that began
operations before 1980 to decide by the end of the year whether to
decommission them, media have reported.
(Additional reporting by Aaron Sheldrick, Osamu Tsukimori and Kaori
Kaneko; Writing by Mari Saito and James Topham; Editing by William
Mallard and Alan Raybould)
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