– Only a third of nuclear reactors may be restarted (Japan Times, April 2, 2014):
Three years after the Fukushima disaster prompted the closure of all of Japan’s nuclear reactors, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is moving to revive atomic power as a core part of the nation’s energy mix, but many of those idled reactors will never come back online.
Fewer than one-third, and at most about two-thirds, of the reactors will pass today’s more stringent safety checks and clear the other seismological, economic, logistical and political hurdles needed to restart, a Reuters analysis shows..
Hokkaido Electric Power Co., facing a third year of financial losses, is seeking a capital infusion from a state-owned lender, which would make it the second utility after Tokyo Electric Power Co., whose Fukushima No. 1 plant suffered three core meltdowns, to get a government bailout since the March 2011 disaster started.
– Fishermen give Tepco green light (Japan Times, April 2, 2014):
A federation of fisheries cooperatives in Fukushima Prefecture on March 25 accepted the so-called underground bypass plan by Tokyo Electric Power Co. to release groundwater into the sea to prevent it from flowing into the basements of the reactor buildings of its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. Two days later, a similar organization in Ibaraki Prefecture also accepted the plan, whose ultimate purpose is to reduce the amount of water radioactively contaminated by the plant.
Read moreJapan Times: ‘ONLY’ A Third Of Nuclear Reactors May Be Restarted – Fishermen Give Tepco Green Light To Dump More Radioactive Groundwater Into Pacific
