Japan yesterday cleared the way for a resumption of nuclear power, four years after the world’s worst nuclear disaster in two-and-a-half decades led to the shutdown of all the country’s reactors and fueled public opposition to the industry.
Regulators said Kyushu Electric Power Co’s two-reactor Sendai nuclear plant had cleared safety hurdles introduced after a huge earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns and explosions at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in March 2011.
The Sendai plant still needs to go through operational checks before a restart, but these are expected to be completed without major hitches.
Photo: AP
The plume of radiation caused by the Fukushima disaster forced about 160,000 people from their homes, many of them never to return, in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
The resulting closure of Japan’s reactors caused tens of billions of dollars in losses at utilities as they resorted to importing fossil fuels for power generation and paid for upgrades to meet tightened safety rules.
Some utilities decided to scrap older plants, leaving Japan with 43 operable reactors compared with 54 before the disaster.
The resumption of nuclear power is likely to be unpopular with the public after the catastrophe highlighted cosy links between utilities and the previous regulator.
The fumbled response to the meltdowns at Fukushima Dai-ichi added to the perception that nuclear power was too dangerous for such an earthquake-prone country as Japan.
Most public opinion polls have put opposition to restarts at about two-to-one, despite an average 20 percent rise in household electricity bills to cover the cost of imported fuel.
Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority commissioners said in a televised meeting yesterday that the Sendai reactors had cleared final safety assessments. The restart has also received the approval of local authorities.
A local court last month rejected a legal bid to block the start-up by residents concerned about the plant’s vulnerability to nearby volcanoes. The residents have appealed against the decision.
Kyushu Electric hopes to restart the Sendai No. 1 reactor in late July, followed by the No. 2 reactor in late September.
The company, which reported a fourth year of losses for the 12 months through March, is desperate to restart the reactors to cut costs.
The approval came nearly two years after Kyushu Electric submitted an application for the screening. The Sendai plant won safety approval in September last year for its reactors and equipment, and was expected to be the first to restart.
Additional reporting by AP
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