The Governor of Saga Prefecture today indicated for the first time that he intends to approve the pluthermal plan for Genkai-3 reactor. On February 7th Saga Prefecture released a report concluding that the pluthermal plan for Genkai is safe. The issue will be debated by the Prefectural Assembly in March. If the Prefectural Assembly supports the plan, it is expected that the governor will promptly sign the required amendment to the safety agreement.
Genkai Village Municipal Assembly indicated its acceptance of the plan on February 17th, but the plan is not supported by a municipality neighboring the plant. On February 20th, Karatsu City Municipal Assembly passed a carefully worded resolution which said, "in the current circumstances it would be difficult to agree to implementation of the plan". That is, of course, a polite way of saying that it opposes the plan.
The Genkai pluthermal plan has already received safety approvals from the Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency and the Nuclear Safety Commission. The final step is to obtain the approval of the local and prefectural governments. This is required under the safety agreement between Kyushu Electric, Saga Prefecture and Genkai Village.
Karatsu City is not a party to the safety agreement and the municipal assembly's resolution is not binding on any of the parties, but it would be an injustice for the plan to be approved in spite of Karatsu's opposition. The border between Karatsu and Genkai is only 600 meters from the power plant. Furthermore, there are four times more Karatsu residents than there are Genkai residents within a 10 kilometer radius of the reactor. Understandably, the Karatsu City Council is unhappy that it is not a party to the safety agreement with Kyushu Electric.
Saga Prefecture's February 7th report basically concluded that the government's safety assessment was reasonable. It considered the following eight issues raised by opponents of pluthermal:
1. Control of the reactor (effectiveness of the control rods and the boron, self-control, particular characteristics of power distribution)
2. Safety of the fuel (melting point, internal pressure - plutonium spots)
3. Experience with MOX (plutonium enrichment, burn-up)
4. Radiation exposure during normal operation (workers)
5. Impacts of accidents (possibility of damage to containment vessel, range of impact in case of accident)
6. Spent MOX fuel (storage)
7. Possibility of terrorism
8. Earthquake response
Saga Prefecture uncritically accepted the proponents arguments on all the above and was satisfied with Kyushu Electric's safety record and safety measures. The governor has already indicated that he accepts the contents of this report.
For an overall picture of Japan's pluthermal plans, see the links below.
Philip White
International Liaison Officer
