Japan nuclear plant closing while seawall is built

Tomoko A. Hosaka -

A Japanese utility agreed Monday to shutter three nuclear reactors at a coastal power plant while it builds a seawall and improves other tsunami defenses there.

Chubu Electric Power Co. acted at a special board meeting after Prime Minister Naoto Kan requested the temporary shutdown at the Hamaoka plant amid concerns an earthquake magnitude 8.0 or higher could strike the central Japanese region sometime within 30 years.

The government's decision came after evaluating Japan's 54 reactors for quake and tsunami vulnerability after the March 11 disasters that crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan.

Chubu Electric President Akihisa Mizuno described Kan's request as "extremely serious." His company's response reflects its commitment to putting safety first, he said.

"We believe that our efforts to strengthen safety will restore trust among people in the region and society," he said at a news conference.

The utility will shutter the No. 4 and No. 5 reactors at the plant, Mizuno said. It will also indefinitely delay a planned resumption of the No. 3 reactor, which has been shut down for regular maintenance since late last year.

The plant's non-operating No. 1 and No. 2 reactors were slated for decommission before the disaster.

About 79,800 people live within a 6-mile (10-kilometer) radius of the Hamaoka plant about 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Tokyo.

Nuclear energy provides more than one-third of Japan's electricity, and shutting the Hamaoka plant is likely to exacerbate power shortages expected this summer. The three reactors account for more than 10 percent of Chubu's power supply.

The Hamaoka plant is a key power provider to central Japan, including nearby Aichi, home of Toyota Motor Corp.

The company estimates electricity demand will climb to 25.6 million kilowatts per month during July and August when temperatures are highest. Without power from the Hamaoka plant, it is projecting "a very difficult" situation through the summer, Mizuno said.

Read more...

Posted via http://batavia08.posterous.com batavia08's posterous