Japanese regulators yesterday said that two ageing nuclear reactors can stay online for up to 20 more years — the first such exception under tighter safety rules imposed after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant crisis in 2011.
Environmental group Greenpeace criticized the decision, saying earthquake risks were being ignored.
Japan shut down dozens of reactors after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake-generated tsunami on March 11, 2011, triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in the northeast, the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
The ensuing decrease in nuclear power generation forced resource-poor Japan to turn to pricey fossil fuels. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has declared that nuclear power is essential for the economy as he pushes to get reactors back in operation.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at Kansai Electric’s Takahama nuclear power plant can operate for up to 20 more years because they meet safety guidelines.
The utility had asked the nuclear watchdog to extend the operational period of the reactors. Both are more than 40 years old, normally the maximum period under NRA rules.
The reactors have been switched off since 2011.
The move comes after a district court in March issued an injunction ordering a temporary shutdown of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the same plant.
The Takahama facility is located about 350km west of Tokyo.
Yesterday’s decision was quickly denounced by Greenpeace, which said the move “goes far beyond regulatory failure.”
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of