Japanese nuke plant bound for decommissioning due to active fault

Tsuruga nuclear plant's No. 2 reactor is found sitting over an active faultline.

This may force Japan Atomic Power Co. to decommission it.

This makes it potentially the first permanent shutdown of a nuclear unit in Japan since the Fukushima disaster.

The government in Japan does not allow nuclear plants to be situated over active faultlines. An NRA panel of seismologists has been reviewing geological records and this month visited Tsuruga to watch the results of boring and other tests.

"There is no way we can carry out safety assessments for a restart," said the chairman of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), Shunichi Tanaka, after being presented with an assessment about the active fault.

A fault line extending from below the reactor was assessed to have moved in the past in tandem with another nearby fault, said Kunihiko Shimazaki, an NRA commissioner who led the seismic panel.

While Tanaka has no authority to order a permanent shutdown, his comment implies he will not allow the reactor

to be restarted, forcing a decision on Japan Atomic over whether to mothball the unit.

A Japan Atomic official who attended the meeting said the company would carry out further seismic studies.

The agency will meet at a later date to make an official announcement on the 1,160 megawatt reactor.

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