Return of nuclear energy to Japan faces several stumbling blocks

IEEE Spectrum : Japan’s goal of supplying 20–22% of the country’s energy needs with nuclear power has recently been hindered by a variety of problems. In February, the regional utility that operated the Fukushima Daiichi plant admitted that, during the catastrophic 2011 incident, the plant’s staff had not followed proper procedure for declaring that a meltdown had occurred. Meanwhile, another regional utility running the Takahama Nuclear Plant in Fukui Prefecture announced that it found a leak in the filtering system of one of the reactor units at the plant as well as a contaminated pool of water. The discovery was made during preparations to restart the reactor, after Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) had deemed the plant safe. Three days after cleaning up the leak, the reactor shut down automatically due to an internal electrical failure. Then on 9 March, a district court in a nearby prefecture ordered the shutdown of two of the Takahama plant’s reactors because the plant did not meet all the NRA safety requirements. Many other plants around the country face similar legal challenges. The problems at Takahama are not helping build public trust, which is necessary to get local governments to approve the restart of nearby reactors.