National
Ida Torres on May 15 2013
The
Nuclear Regulation Authority has stopped the Monju prototype fast-breeder nuclear reactor from going back online due to safety concerns. They said that based on reports from November, Japan Atomic Energy Agency (
JAEA), the operator of the 280-megawatt reactor in Fukui prefecture, has failed to fulfil some of the security checks required by the NRA.
Nuclear Regulation Authority (
NRA) Chairman Shunichi Tanaka has given some conflicting statements regarding when they will reach a decision on whether or not the Tsuruga nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture has an active fault line running directly underneath. Their decision and conclusion is needed to see whether the plant will already be decommissioned.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority (
NRA) will be inspecting Japan's two remaining operating nuclear reactors to see if they will be able to remain online after July when the new safety requirements will take effect. The NRA will be doing a safety assessment of reactors No 3 and 4 at the Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture and then
submit their assessment by the end of June.
Departing from a port in
France this week, a ship carrying nuclear fuel is on its way to making the first delivery to Japan since the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The fuel was loaded onto the ship with a large amount of security present due to local protestors, and the cargo ship then set sail from northwestern France's port of Cherbourg.
The dinosaur exhibit at
Fukui museum is a sight to behold, as many children and their parents can attest to you. With around 40 complete dinosaur skeletons displayed out in the open – not in glass cases – the museum has become an attraction for the Japanese population to learn about these prehistoric animals that roamed the Japanese islands. The fossils and skeletons are mainly from the museum’s own excavations in Katsuyama, Fukui Prefecture, even as the museum is currently branching out in Asia to help uncover fossils in other countries.
According to the Sea Turtle Association of Japan, at least 119 young stranded sea turtles have been sighted along the
Sea of Japan since November 2012. This is a big increase in their numbers, since only four such turtles were seen on the
shore last winter, and seven the year before that.
Reactor Nos. 3 and 4 at Kansai Electric Power Co’s
Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture are the only ones in operation in all of Japan. Yesterday, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (
NRA) said that they will be allowed to operate until September, which is its next routine schedule. This, despite the release of new safety guidelines for operating nuclear power plants is set on July 18.
The
Nuclear Regulation Authority has granted an exemption from the new safety guidelines until September to Kansai Electric Power's Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture. This means the country's only two operating nuclear reactors can operate throughout the summer.
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 five-man panel appointed by the
Nuclear Regulation Authority has failed to reach a consensus as to whether an active fault line is running directly under the Oi power plant in the Fukui Prefecture. This will cause
further delay in deciding whether the NRA will ask operator Kansai Electric Power Co to suspend the operations of their No 3 and 4 reactors.
