Faultline beneath Tsuruga reactor believed to be active

A fault line extending from below the reactor was assessed to have moved in the past in tandem with another nearby fault, Kunihiko Shimazaki, an NRA commissioner who led the seismic panel, told the meeting

I thought the whole of Japan is messy with fault lines constantly criss-crossing each other everywhere! i mean a nuke plant does not even need to be on fault line to be damaged because one day, a fault line will after all surface near or beneath it! Were the Fukushima nuke plants on fault lines? Better to conclude that Japan is sitting on dangerous tectonic plates/ring of fire and therefore not fit for nuke plants. Makes more sense to me to imagine along those lines......

Faultline beneath Tsuruga reactor believed to be active

I call BS, it was already known to be active, now they believe it might be official.

Stating the obvious wow

Known fact confirmed over 30 yrs ago. Should serve as a big lift for anti-nuclear parties incl DPJ. Interesting how this came out at this particular timing just before the election.

But I,m sure Japan Atomic Power REALLY didn't know about the fault when they decided to build the plant, did they...

It isn't a matter so much of knowing that it was there (This is Japan. It would have been more surprising if a fault line hadn't been in the area). The question is what the estimated risk was. Just like every other possible environmental threat out there.

"Japan Atomic Power Co may have to decommission one of its reactors..."

How much do you want to bet that, after pretending they had no idea and didn't try to cover it up, Japan Atomic Power Co. will NOT agree to decommission the plant but stress its necessity, especially with 'winter power shortages looming', etc.?

In an article on Japan Times it quoted the head of Japan Atomic Power Company as saying this conclusion was "completely uacceptable". LOL. The arrogance of that man. In other words, how dare the NRA, which is charged with protecting public safety, actually try to do its job, at the expense of Japan Inc. Incredible. Youcan bet if the LDP wins, they'll find a way to re-start it.

Quote: "While Tanaka has no authority to order a permanent shutdown, his comment implies he will not allow the reactor to be restarted, forcing a decision on Japan Atomic over whether to mothball the unit."

And this is what Tepco's lawyers know. The NRA has no authority to legally order a shutdown, not the way the law is presently written. The law allows for shutdown orders in an immediate emergency which is thought to include a missile attack, plane crash, terrorist attack, etc. Tepco got permission to build the thing from the government. They built it, and they say they will be the ones to decide whether or not to shut down the No.2 reactor at Tsuruga.

Wow! A negative result! I guess someone didn't receive their brown paper bag full of cash. I bet there is an updated report released very soon that is contrary to this one.

TEPCO, KEPCO and the other utilities with NPPs all blatantly ignored these findings more than 30 years ago, claiming that these professors of geology knew nothing about nuclear power. Maybe they didn't, but they knew a lot about plate tectonics, seismic activity and the risk of accidents. Any nuclear engineer who agreed with their views was deprived of funding, fixed at assoc. prof level, and kept out of the media.

The nuclear village will have to come up with some new spin to convince people these reactors can be re-started, or distribute more brown papers bags...

Not to worry ... the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan is expected to win big in Sunday's election ... and if they do, they will once again cover up the nuclear problems and say that everything is fine and dandy ... much like they did several years before the tsunami destroyed the nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.