Seventy Japanese NGOs today submitted a letter (see below) to the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) and the Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency (NISA) demanding suspension of operations at all Japanese nuclear facilities until an earthquake safety reassessment is complete. Their demands relate to the 24 March ruling by the Kanazawa District Court that Hokuriku Electric Power Company's Shika-2 reactor should not be operated.
On 24 March 2006 the Kanazawa District Court upheld a suit for termination of operation of the Shika-2 reactor (ABWR 1,358 MW). The suit was filed by 135 plaintiffs from 16 prefectures in August 1999.
The reasons for the verdict were that the design basis earthquake was too small, that the Ochigata fault zone was not taken into account, that the method used to predict the movement arising from earthquakes was inappropriate, and that an earthquake could cause the plaintiffs to be exposed to radiation above the allowed dose. The method used, known as the Osaki method, has been used in the safety assessments for all Japanese nuclear facilities, so the Shika-2 verdict is relevant to all these facilities.
Program
From 12:00 - Demonstration outside Ministry for Economy Trade and Industry (METI) (Annex)
15:30 - Deliver letter to NSC (House of Councilors, meeting room 2)
16:15 - Deliver letter to NISA (METI, Annex meeting room 450)
18:00-19:00 - Candlelight Action outside METI (Annex)
Contact: Philip White, International Liaison Officer
Mr. Shojiro Matsuura
Chairperson
Nuclear Safety Commission
Mr. Kenkichi Hirose
Director General
Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency
Urgent Demands Concerning Court Ruling in Favor of Termination of Operation of Shika-2 Nuclear Reactor
On 24 March 2006, the Kanazawa District Court ruled that Hokuriku Electric Power Company's Shika-2 reactor should not be operated. The ruling was based on the court's conclusion that an earthquake exceeding that assumed in the Nuclear Safety Commission's and the Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency's safety assessments and reactor installment license could not be ruled out. The ruling recognized that the seismological knowledge on which the existing earthquake standards for nuclear facilities are based is out of date. The standards were established in 1978 and their inadequacy has been demonstrated by facts which have emerged from several recent earthquakes.
The court criticized the safety assessment on the grounds that the movement predicted for the assumed earthquake does not correspond with reality. It made reference to specific cases, including the following:
* The magnitude 7.3 Tottori Seibu Earthquake struck on 6 October 2000 in a region where no active fault had been identified, but the safety assessment for the Shimane nuclear power plant only assumed a magnitude 6.5 earthquake directly beneath the reactor.
* The Miyagi-Oki Earthquake, which struck on 16 August 2005, was much smaller than the earthquake assumed in the safety assessment for the Onagawa nuclear power plant, but movement was measured at the plant which exceeded the standard.
* The earthquake assumed under the reactor installment license is smaller than the earthquake predicted by the government's earthquake investigation office.
The above points are relevant to all Japan's nuclear power plants and nuclear facilities. For many years we have been concerned about the ability of nuclear facilities to withstand earthquakes and we have been highlighting the above points all along.
Japan is an earthquake prone archipelago. It is impossible to be sure when and where major earthquakes will occur. If a nuclear facility is once destroyed, the disaster is irreversible.
Considering the court's verdict, we make the following urgent demands:
1. Promptly reassess the earthquake safety of all nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel cycle facilities. Suspend the operation of all such facilities until the reassessment is complete.
2. Freeze all operation licenses which vary from the original installment license (i.e. pluthermal etc.) until a reassessment based on current knowledge is complete.
3. Cancel the active tests at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant and promptly reassess the earthquake safety of the plant.
4. Freeze applications which are currently being assessed for installment licenses for nuclear facilities and direct the applicants to resubmit their application based on current knowledge.
30 March 2006
Signed by 70 groups, including Citizens' Nuclear Information Center
