Japan's Hamaoka nuclear plant to temporarily close over safety concerns

The shutdown of the plant follows concerns about whether it was adequately protected from potential damage by another earthquake. The temporary measure is likely to mean more power shortages for Japanese people.

A JAPANESE NUCLEAR power plant has been temporarily shut down amid concerns that it is not adequately protected from another potentially devastating earthquake and tsunami.

The operator of a coastal nuclear power plant agreed to the Japanese government’s request to shutter three reactors there until it builds a seawall and other tsunami protections.

The operator of the Hamaoka plant Chubu Electric Power Company agreed to a government request to shutter three reactors there until it builds a seawall and other tsunami protections.

Requested

Prime Minister Naoto Kan requested the temporary shutdown at the Hamaoka plant amid concerns a earthquake magnitude 8.0 or higher could strike the region within 30 years.

The government acted after evaluating Japan’s 54 reactors for quake and tsunami vulnerability after the 11 March disasters that crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeast Japan.

About 79,800 people live within a 6-mile radius of the Hamaoka plant about 125 miles west of Tokyo.

Power shortages

Nuclear energy provides more than one-third of Japan’s electricity and shutting the Hamaoka plant is likely to exacerbate power shortages expected this summer.

The three reactors account for more than 10 percent of Chubu’s power supply. The Hamaoka plant is a key power provider to central Japan including nearby Aichi, home of Toyota Motor Corporation.

Since the 11 March disasters, Chubu Electric drew safety measures that include building a 40-foot-high seawall nearly a mile long over the next two to three years, company officials said.

Safety measures

Chubu also promised to install more emergency backup generators and other equipment and improve the water tightness of the reactor buildings.

The Hamaoka plant lacks a concrete sea barrier now. Sand hills between the ocean and the plant are up to 50 feet (15 meters) high, deemed enough to defend against a tsunami around 26 feet (8 meters) high, officials said.

The government earlier estimated the improvements to the Hamaoka plant could take two years.

- AP