Japan nuclear plants face closure over delayed counterterrorism measures
- Possible emergencies listed in new guidelines include an aircraft being deliberately flown into a reactor building
Anti-nuclear campaigners have welcomed the firm line being taken by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority requiring power companies to comply with new security regulations to combat terrorist attacks.
The NRA said this week that nine reactors at five nuclear plants across Japan are presently operational, but they will have to be shut down again if the facilities do not meet requirements on anti-terrorist defences by deadlines set for individual plants by the regulators.
Similarly, Kansai Electric Power anticipates that work at its Takahama plant will run one year beyond the August 2020 deadline.
Improved defences were part of the wide-ranging improvements forced upon the nuclear industry after the Fukushima disaster, with operators now required to improve fences and build underground bunkers from where the reactors could be operated in the event of an emergency. Possible emergencies cited in the new guidelines include an aircraft being deliberately flown into a reactor building.
In a meeting with the NRA earlier this month, operators requested that the deadlines be extended. One week later, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, the five NRA commissioners unanimously rejected the requests and said any facilities that did not meet the required standards would be shut down.