Japanese Watchdog Approves Restart Of Reactor At Onagawa NPP Hit By 2011 Quake - Operator

Japanese Watchdog Approves Restart of Reactor at Onagawa NPP Hit by 2011 Quake - Operator

Japan's Tohoku Electric Power company said on Wednesday that it had received a first green light from a Japanese nuclear watchdog to restart a reactor at its Onagawa nuclear power plant (NPP), which was extensively damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2019) Japan's Tohoku Electric Power company said on Wednesday that it had received a first green light from a Japanese nuclear watchdog to restart a reactor at its Onagawa nuclear power plant (NPP), which was extensively damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority concluded that stringent safety measures put into place by the plant's operator now meet stricter regulations introduced in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster.

"All of our company has dealt seriously and carefully with the examination so far, and we believe that we have reached a major milestone towards a permission to restart the facility. We will continue to respond appropriately to assessments by the committee," the company's press release read.

The company also noted the importance of gaining understanding of local residents ahead of the restart of the facility.

"We will continue to make efforts to gain understanding of as many people as possible through various initiatives such as facility tours where visitors can actually see safety measures put in place at the power plant," the press release read.

This is the first step in resuming operations at the Onagawa plant. The regulator will also conduct extensive public consultation for one month before giving its formal approval. Tohoku Electric Power is expected to spend nearly $3.1 billion to finish reinforcing seismic and anti-tsunami protection systems until March 2021. The measures include raising seawalls to 29 meters (95 feet) at the plant. Apart from the nuclear regulator, the company also has to obtain approvals from local governments.

The Onagawa plant consists of three nuclear reactors which were shut down after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Despite being in close proximity to the quake's epicenter, and being flooded by the tsunami, the plant's cooling system saved the reactors from the same meltdowns which struck the Fukushima Daiichi plant. In October 2018, Tohoku Electric Power announced that reactor No. 1 would be decommissioned permanently. The operator is also reportedly considering applying to the Nuclear Regulation Authority to resume operations at reactor No. 3.

All of Japan's 54 operating nuclear reactors were shut down in March 2011 after a 9.0 magnitude offshore earthquake and subsequent tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi plant. This caused three reactors to meltdown, leading to the leakage of radioactive materials and the shutdown of the plant. Before the 2011 disaster, Japan had generated about 30 percent of its electricity from nuclear reactors.