In a draft report by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) released on Monday, January 28, it would seem that the fault running under reactor 2 of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture is likely to be active. According to the report, the judgment could still be reviewed if new information is garnered. But, as of the moment, the NRA is considering the fault active and will be dealt with in terms of its seismic design.
The possibility of the zone of small rocks called D-1 to move simultaneously with the major active fault called Urazoko is very likely. And if this happens, the facility right above it will be directly impacted. The report said that the D-1 is most likely to be an extension of the K fault, which is already considered active, having moved in the past 130,000 years or so. According to NRA commissioner and head of the panel that conducted the investigation of the Tsuruga site in December, Kunihiko Shimazaki, the report is still set for review by external experts prior to finalization. If proved to be active, the reactor will no longer undergo the safety exam required for reactivation because it will already be closed down.
While there is no word yet if the faults running under reactor 1 are active, the reactor itself is over 40 years old. Under the new rules proposed by the NRA, reactors over 40 years old will no longer be allowed to operate. Thus, Japan Atomic Power Co. could see the scrapping of the 2-reactor complex altogether.
[via Bloomberg]