» Restart of Ikata nuclear plant will be delayed untl next year due to lack of safty standards

2014/07/26

Restarts of reactors at the Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture will be delayed until at least next year because the site does not meet safety standards.

Its operator, Shikoku Electric Power Co., is being forced to construct a new emergency headquarters building at the facility as the current one, which was completed after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, fails to meet the new criteria.

The new building is scheduled to be completed in January 2015 at the earliest. Given that procedures for safety screening take time, the utility said it was doubtful the reactors could be reactivated this fiscal year, which ends in March 2015.

Shikoku Electric is not the only electric power company that has been obliged to construct new emergency headquarters buildings in their nuclear power plants.

Such facilities are expected to serve as command centers in the event of a nuclear accident. Thus, the buildings are required to withstand strong earthquakes and serve as a shield against radiation under stringent safety standards imposed by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in July 2013.

<Media Report>

Restarts of reactors in Ehime delayed due to insufficient safety standards (Asahi Newspaper)

Tags:news, NRA, restart of nuclear reactors

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