Japan’s oldest commercial nuclear reactor reached its 42nd anniversary Wednesday, at a time when the government has proposed limiting the service life of nuclear reactors at 40 years in the wake of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima complex.
The No. 1 reactor of the Tsuruga nuclear plant in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, operated by Japan Atomic Power Co., commenced its operational life on March 14, 1970, to distribute electricity mainly to western Japan, including the Kansai area surrounding Osaka.
While it has been idled since Jan. 26 last year for a 14-month regular checkup, it remains unclear when, or if, it will be reactivated in the face of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and the government’s proposed 40-year limit.
Moreover, an active fault was detected under the premises of the Tsuruga plant, stirring concerns of a magnitude 7.4-level earthquake.
Tsurua Mayor Kazuharu Kawase indicated the reactor should be reactivated once its safety is confirmed, arguing the government’s 40-year proposgal “is logically invalid.”
Opposing this view, Tetsuen Nakajima, an antinuclear activist in Fukui, said, “It remains unclear how the aging affected the troubled reactors at the Fukushima complex. Degraded reactors should be decommissioned in succession before they cause catastrophic situations.”
In Fukui Prefecture, the No. 2 reactor at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Mihama nuclear plant will turn 40 in July and its No. 1 reactor will have been operated for 42 years in November.
Another five reactors in the prefecture have already been operated for more than 30 years.
– source mdn.mainichi.jp