Japan
The lifetime of nuclear reactors has been pushed beyond 60 years
The Japanese parliament has passed a law that excludes plant failures from total service life. This will improve the power supply of the country.
Posted
Under the new law, nuclear reactors must be inspected by the Japan Nuclear Safety Commission at least once every ten years after 30 years of service.
Reuters
In Japan, parliament passed legislation on Wednesday to extend the life of nuclear reactors beyond 60 years to improve the security of the country’s electricity supply and help meet its climate goals.
The measure would exclude reactor shutdown periods from the total service life of reactors related to compliance with new nuclear safety rules introduced in Japan after the Fukushima disaster in 2011 or interim court injunctions.
It was one of the measures Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced last summer to revive nuclear power in the country, months after the energy shock caused by the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Japan’s Nuclear Safety Authority (NRA) gave the approval in February. The new law also calls for inspection of reactors by the NRA every ten years after at least 30 years of service.
Only nine reactors are operational
After the disaster at the Fukushima power plant, the entire Japanese nuclear fleet was shut down after a massive underwater earthquake was triggered by a giant tsunami off the country’s northeast coast.
Of the country’s 33 theoretically operational reactors, only ten have been restarted to comply with higher safety standards. Currently, nine nuclear reactors are operating in Japan, all located in the west or southwest of the archipelago.
(AFP)
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