Japan to issue very tough nuclear power regulations

Only a few existing power plants expected to meet the safety rules.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority will soon issue draft outline of new and strict safety standards for nuclear power plants. Analysts believe that the new and stricter standards make it unlikely that most of Japan’s idled plants are unlikely to be restarted in the near future.

Detailed standards will be drafted in April after public opinion on the draft outline is gathered. The final version will be decided by July. The new safety standards aim to prevent another nuclear crisis similar to the one at the Fukushima in March 2011.

The draft outline obliges nuclear plants for the first time ever to take countermeasures against accidents larger than expected at the time of design. Since many of the required measures will require a vast amount of time and money to implement, only a very small number of the reactors will be eligible for government inspections for the restart by July.

Among these standards are the building of seawalls high enough to provide protection from the largest tsunami hypothetically possible. A detailed survey must also be conducted on the ground underneath nuclear power plants to verify seismic inactivity.

Apart from revised design standards, nuclear plants will also be obliged to take countermeasures against large-scale disasters and terrorism.

NRA is considering giving nuclear plant operators a grace period for implementing some of the new measures that will need extensive construction work.