Japan is setting stricter, clearer safety guidelines for nuclear power plants to ease public concern about restarting reactors idled after the disasters a year ago.
The guidelines announced on Friday are more extensive than computer-simulated “stress tests” designed to estimate how reactors would cope in the event of a major earthquake and tsunami like what overwhelmed Fukushima Dai-ichi last year.
Economy and Trade Minister Yukio Edano called the guidelines “easy to understand” criteria that aim to set higher standards for natural disasters, but do not factor in terrorist attacks, airplane accidents and other emergencies.
The guidelines - based on 30 recommendations adopted last month by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency - require nuclear power plants to install filtered vents that could reduce radiation leaks in case of an accident, as well as a device to prevent hydrogen explosions.
About 13 of the recommendations - the most crucial measures needed to secure cooling functions and prevent meltdowns as in Fukushima - were implemented, but the rest were not. The guidelines did not set deadlines for the steps to be finished.
Facing a national power crunch, the government is anxious to restart two reactors in Fukui, western Japan. All but one of Japan’s 54 reactors have been shut down for inspections, required every 13 months. None have been restarted since the March 11, 2011 tsunami. The nation’s last operational reactor, on Hokkaido, goes offline in early May.
