Japan rethinks nuclear operation cap
Source: Agencies |
January 19, 2012, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
JAPAN is backtracking on plans formed only this month to shut down nuclear reactors after 40 years, saying yesterday it could allow some plants an exemption to run for up to 60 years.
The government had announced its plan to introduce the legislation requiring plants to shutter after 40 years as part of its campaign to improve safety following the nuclear crisis set off by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Concern about aging reactors has grown because three of those at the tsunami-hit plant were built from the late 1960s and many more of Japan's 54 reactors will reach the 40-year mark in coming years.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the government still plans to stick to the 40-year cap in principle. He said exemptions would be rare. He said to qualify a reactor would have to meet strict safety requirements.
The Cabinet is set to approve the proposed bill by the end of this month before submitting legislation to parliament for further debate.
Japan currently does not have a limit on the operational lifespan of reactors.
The proposed legislation is similar to regulations in the US, which grant 40-year licenses and allow for 20-year extensions. Such renewals have been granted to 66 of 104 US nuclear reactors. The process has been so routine that many in the industry are already planning additional license extensions for plants to operate decades longer.
If Japan sticks to the 40-year-rule, 36 reactors would have to be shut down by 2030, the Asahi newspaper reported.
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