Japan moves step closer to restart nuclear reactors

Japan moved a step closer to restarting nuclear reactors on Monday as four utility companies applied for inspections at ten of their idled reactors, the clearest sign yet of a return to nuclear energy nearly two and a half years after the Fukushima disaster.

With all but two of its 50 reactors off line since the crisis, Japan has been without nuclear energy that once supplied about a third of its power.

Four of nine Japanese nuclear plant operators, supplying the regions of Hokkaido, Kansai, Shikoku and Kyushu, filed applications for safety inspections by the Nuclear Regulation Authority for ten reactors at five plants on Monday, when new safety requirements take effect.

Applications for two more reactors are expected later in the week.

Reactors that pass the stricter rules may be allowed to reopen early next year, with each inspection expected to take several months.

Critics say the new safety requirements have loopholes that make things easier for operators, including a five-year grace period for some of the mandated steps given to reactors known as PWRs (Pressurized Water Reactors).

Hit by soaring gas and oil costs to run conventional power plants to make up for the shortfall, Japanese utility companies have desperately sought to put their reactors back online.

Nearly all the utilities owning nuclear power plants reported huge losses last fiscal year due to higher costs for fuel imports.

Hokkaido Electric Power Company, for example, said it had been hit with additional daily fuel costs of 600 (m) million yen (6 (m) million US Dollars) to make up for three idled reactors. Nuclear operators have requested rate hikes or plan to do so.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed for restarts since taking office in December, freezing the previous government's nuclear phase-out plan. Resumption of nuclear power plants is part of his ruling party's campaign platform for parliamentary elections in two weeks.

For the first time, the new rules require plants to guard against radiation leaks in the case of severe accidents, install emergency command centers and enact counter-terrorism measures.

Operators are required to upgrade protection for tsunamis and earthquakes, as well as tornadoes and aviation accidents.

Safety was previously left up to the operators, relying on their self-interest in protecting their investments as an incentive for implementing adequate measures.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) came under fire for underestimating the risk of a tsunami and building a seawall that was less than half the height of the wave that hit Fukushima Dai-ichi and caused multiple meltdowns and massive radiation leaks. About 160-thousand evacuees still cannot return home.

Ikuo Morinaka, senior official at Kansai Electric Power Company, applying for four reactors in Fukui prefecture that supply power to large parts of western Japan, said the company has taken emergency measures and additional steps since the Fukushima disaster.

Morinaka said KEPCO was ready after handing a thick file of documents to a watchdog official in a media-packed ceremonial event.

"We hope our application passes as soon as possible. For that to happen, our company needs to give its best efforts to supplying as much clear information as is needed," he said in the hope of restarting the power plants as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, dozens of activists opposing the proposed restarts, staged rallies outside the watchdog headquarters, holding banners and chanting anti-nuclear slogans.

All 10 reactors set for inspections are PWRs, and filtered vents and command centers are still not completed at many of them.

The approvals are aimed at resuming reactor operations even though nearby communities lag in enacting needed emergency and evacuation procedures, and the restarts will cause more nuclear waste, plutonium stockpiles and other safety and environmental risks, said a group of experts headed by Hosei University sociologist Harutoshi Funabashi.

"They are out of their minds. It seems like no one has learned from the pain caused by the massive incident (at Fukushima)," said anti-nuclear activist, Emika Massion.

Lady Barbara Judge acting as a Deputy Chairman of Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee, an advisory board for TEPCO, however, said Japan needs nuclear energy more than ever now.

The critics say running nuclear plants will eventually become a financial burden, as safety upgrades under the new requirements add up and the cost of decommissioning aging reactors and waste cleanup.

Even initial safety upgrades are estimated to exceed a combined total of 1 (t) trillion yen (10 (b) billion US Dollars).


AP