Japan PM Orders Hamaoka Nuclear Plant Shutdown | Common Dreams.
Japan`s Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday ordered the interruption of operations at an ageing nuclear power plant southwest of Tokyo because it is placed near to a dangerous tectonic faultline.
It comes eight weeks later a massive earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant northeast of Tokyo, sparking the world`s worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl a quarter-century ago.
Seismologists have long warned that a major earthquake is far overdue in the Tokai region southwest of Tokyo where the Hamaoka plant is located. It is only 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital and its vast population.
"As prime minister, I have ordered, through trade minister (Banri) Kaieda, that Chubu Electric Power Co. halt operations of all the reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant," Kan said at a televised press conference.
He said the works would remain shut while a higher sea wall is reinforced and other measures are interpreted to hold it against a major quake and tsunami. Local media said the hanging would be for about two years.
The Hamaoka plant has five reactor units, but just two are working now - number 4 and five. Reactors one and two, built in the 1970s, were stopped in 2009, and trinity is undergoing a checkup.
"The relevant authorities, including the science ministry, have shown that the theory of a magnitude-8.0 earthquake hit the field of the Hamaoka plant within the following 30 days is 87 percent," the premier said.
"This is a determination made for the refuge of the masses when I think the particular conditions of the Hamaoka plant," Kan said, adding: "I made the conclusion myself as prime minister."
Kyodo News agency reported that Chubu had agreed to suspend operations.
Japanese anti-nuclear campaigners have long argued that the seismically unstable area, where two major continental plates meet, makes Hamaoka the most dangerous atomic facility in the quake-prone archipelago.
Heita Kawakatsu, the regulator of Shizuoka prefecture, where the set is situated, has uttered his strong resistance to resuming operations at the closed reactors, saying that anti-tsunami measures were inadequate.
Kan said the administration made the conclusion after "taking into score the tremendous impact a severe accident at the Hamaoka nuclear plant would take on the Japanese society as a whole".
"It is essential to steadfastly implement measures on a middle- and long-term basis, including construction of sea walls which can fully withstand an anticipated Tokai earthquake," he said.
After the March 11 9.magnitude quake and tsunami knocked out cooling systems at Fukushima, leading to partial meltdowns and explosions, Chubu Electric said it planned to establish a water barrier 12 metres tall or higher.
Greenpeace hailed Friday`s news.
"Greenpeace welcomes Prime Minister Kans request to close Hamaoka, one of the most dangerous nuclear reactors in Japan," said Junichi Sato, Greenpeace Japan executive director.
"This is the start sentence a prime minister has directly requested a nuclear plant in Japan be closed. However, it cannot be the last."
"Fukushima has provided a stern reminder of the consequences of atomic power, and there are many other dangerous reactors still online.
"The authorities must proceed to finish and decommission existing plants, cancel all new reactor builds and put Japan on a run for a future powered by renewable sources of energy.
"Only so can the Japanese people find their administration is truly putting their safety first."
Japan, the world`s number three economy which endures 20 percent of all major earthquakes, generates almost 30 percent of its force from nuclear plants.
The record March tremor and roll which battered Japan`s northeast coast caused 11 of Japan`s 55 nuclear reactors to automatically shut down, while triggering a major crisis at the Fukushima plant.
Tens of thousands of mass have been evacuated from a 20 kilometre zone of the works which has leaked radiation into the air, soil and sea, and which its operator, Tokyo Electric Power, expects to stabilize in six to 9 months.
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