14 DAY TRIAL // This Friday, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco, for short) filed an application with Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) asking that it be given permission to resume activities at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant.
Specifically, the company is asking that the NRA allow it to restart two of the seven reactors at this facility, which happens to be the world's largest nuclear plant as far as energy generating capacity is concerned.
The plant is located at a distance of about 300 kilometers (180 miles) northwest of Tokyo. It was shut down in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, Financial Times tells us.
Given the fact that the situation at Fukushima nuclear facility is yet to be entirely under control, some might frown at the news that Tepco is looking to resume operations at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
More so given the fact that the company has been severely criticized over these past few months.
Still, Tepco reassures that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility is perfectly safe, and that no harm can come from the reopening of two of the plant's reactors.
“Since the accident occurred at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in March 2011, we have continuously implemented additional measures to enhance the safety of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station,” Tepco writes in a press release.
“Main safety measures important in terms of compliance with the new regulatory standards include the following: countermeasures against natural phenomena; countermeasures against flooding inside buildings; measures to prevent fires; measures to reinforce systems to receive power from outside the plant; Countermeasures against severe accidents,” the company further details.
Now that Tepco has filed said application, the NRA is expected to carry out a thorough inspection of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility, and determine whether or not restarting the reactors is a good idea. Odds are it will be several months until the NRA reaches a conclusion.