1 Jul (NucNet): Two units at the Ohi nuclear power station in Japan will continue commercial operation until at least September 2013, based on new regulatory standards that were approved earlier this month by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA).
According to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF), the NRA “largely accepted” a written evaluation by a panel of its experts concluding that nothing would cause any immediate “severe safety issues” at units 3 and 4 of the Ohi station, which is owned and operated by the Kansai Electric Power Company (Kepco).
JAIF said the evaluation noted that “several items of equipment” were found to not completely satisfy the new standards, so the NRA ordered Kepco to carry out modifications by the end of June. Nuclear safety inspectors from the NRA’s regional office were scheduled to carry out an inspection of the modifications, JAIF said.
The new nuclear safety standards, drawn up in the wake of the March 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident, cover three main areas: design basis safety standards, severe accident measures and safety standards for earthquakes and tsunamis.
Operators of nuclear plants in Japan will be obliged to take concrete steps to mitigate against the possibility of serious accidents. Until now, such action was voluntary.
They will also be required to draw up emergency scenarios for bigger earthquakes and tsunamis.
Ohi-3 and Ohi-4, both pressurised water reactors, are the only two nuclear power reactors currently in commercial operation in Japan.
All reactor units were shut down for safety checks following the Fukushima-Daiichi accident.
Ohi-3 resumed electricity generation on 5 July after an extended outage, ending a 60-day period without any of Japan’s 50 reactors online.
Ohi-4 was the second nuclear reactor in Japan to be re-started since the Fukushima-Daiichi accident.
A draft copy of the new guidelines is online:
www.nsr.go.jp/english/data/new_safety_standards.pdf
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