January 24, 2013
Kyodo News
Some faults under Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, the world’s biggest on Japan’s northwest coast, could be regarded as active based on new safety standards, Kyodo News found Wednesday through documents that the utility has made public and other materials.
If the faults are judged as likely active by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, established in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi complex disaster, the utility will face difficulties in reactivating the plant in Niigata Prefecture.
Under Japanese government criteria, active faults are defined as those that have moved in the last 120,000 to 130,000 years. But the NRA plans to move the benchmark to 400,000 years ago in the new safety standards, which are expected to come into force in July.