Genkai Nuclear Power Plant
Encyclopedia
The is a nuclear power plant
located in the town of Genkai
in the Higashimatsuura District in the Saga Prefecture
. It is owned and operated by the Kyūshū Electric Power Company
.
Unit 3 has been selected as a special Plutonium fuel test case. The plant is on a site with a total of 0.87 square kilometers.
fuel.
was felt at the plant, but there was no equipment damage.
After the mayor of Genkai extended his approval, the larger consensus of Saga prefecture was sought. A meeting was organized to inform the people in the district and to get permission to restart the reactors. The meeting was broadcast live on TV and the internet, and viewers were invited to submit their opinions by e-mail or fax. However it became known, that the board of the Kyushu Electric Power Company had specifically instructed employees of the plant to sent emails to this meeting with positive mails for the restart. Later was admitted that not only employees of the utility but the workers of 4 affiliated firms too—more than 1,500 people in total—were involved in this. A big scandal broke out in Japanese media, because the whole meeting appeared to be manipulated.
At the same time as this crisis broke, Prime Minister Naoto Kan
unexpectedly requested more stress tests of the reactor. This seemed to imply, despite the earlier assurances of the national government, that the routine maintenance and additional post-earthquake tests had not been sufficient to clear the reactors for restart, and that the mayor of Genkai had therefore approved the restart without complete information about the reactors' safety. As a result, the mayor rescinded his approval. The governor of Saga, who had not yet given his approval, also expressed surprise. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano
flew to Saga prefecture immediately to apologize to the governor in person. On July 9, Kan also apologized.
On July 12, actor Taro Yamamoto
, a Tokyo native who had flown into Saga to protest the potential restart, broke into the offices of Saga prefecture trying to force the governor to come out. He was unsuccessful but proclaimed that he was glad he had come to protest.
On July 20, Shingo Matsuo chairman of Kyushu Electric Power Company announced that Toshio Manabe the president of the firm will resign to take
responsibility for problems related to the utility's attempts to win local approval for restarting two nuclear reactors, and the way in which the results were manipulated. The board of directors' planned a meeting on July 27 to decide about the punishments for the executives and other officials involved, and the date of the resignation. On July 22 industry minister Banri Kaieda made a comment, "that it is natural for a top official to take the blame". But Shingo Matsuo denied that the minister had put pressure on Manabe to resign.
On 14 October Kyushu Electric Power did sent a report about the email-affaire to minister Edano, but it left out all the views of the independent commission under chairman lawyer Nobuo Gohara, that Saga Gov. Yasushi Furukawa's remark to senior Kyushu Electric officials induced the firm to start an e-mail-campaing to boost support for the restart of the reactors in a government-sponsored television program broadcast in June. The minster demanded a revision of this 14 October report, because in Edano's eyes this made the investigations of the commission meaningless. In the revised report Kyushu Electric did cite the views of the independent commission, but it also added a rebuttal to this views, on the instructions of the firm's president Manabe and with approval chairman Shingo Matsuo. This addition could make it difficult to get the report accepted by the ministry and lawyer Gohara.
On 2 November 2011 in the afternoon the No. 4 reactor was restarted. Kyushu Electric Power Company did get permission for this from NISA
. The amount of power would be gradually increased and normal operations were expected on 4 November. The reactor was the first in Japan to resume operations after the March accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. In December the reactor would be stopped again for a regular inspection.
The leader of the oppositional Social Democratic Party
Mizuho Fukushima criticized on 3 November 2011 the Japanese government for allowing the restart of the reactor. She had no trust in NISA
and she did not trust the Nuclear Safety Commission too. She asked for an open debate before restarting any nuclear reactor, but in the Diet
there were no discussions at all. Fukushima remembered that the Kyushu utility was recently criticized because it manipulated public opinion in favor of nuclear power. She could not believe that the industry ministry and the agency had given permission to the restart.
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
located in the town of Genkai
Genkai, Saga
is a town located in Higashimatsuura District, Saga, Japan. It has an area of 36.00 km² and as of February 1, 2009 has a population of 6,496. It is currently the only municipality in Higashimatsuura District...
in the Higashimatsuura District in the Saga Prefecture
Saga Prefecture
is located in the northwest part of the island of Kyūshū, Japan. It touches both the Sea of Japan and the Ariake Sea. The western part of the prefecture is a region famous for producing ceramics and porcelain, particularly the towns of Karatsu, Imari, and Arita...
. It is owned and operated by the Kyūshū Electric Power Company
Kyushu Electric Power Company
The provides power to 7 prefectures , and recently, to some parts of Hiroshima Prefecture. The shortened name of may sometimes be used. As of 2006, the image character was Chisato Moritaka...
.
Unit 3 has been selected as a special Plutonium fuel test case. The plant is on a site with a total of 0.87 square kilometers.
Reactors on Site
All reactors at the Genkai plant use low enriched (3-4%) Uranium dioxideUranium dioxide
Uranium dioxide or uranium oxide , also known as urania or uranous oxide, is an oxide of uranium, and is a black, radioactive, crystalline powder that naturally occurs in the mineral uraninite. It is used in nuclear fuel rods in nuclear reactors. A mixture of uranium and plutonium dioxides is used...
fuel.
| Name | Reactor Type | First Criticality | Power Rating | Thermal Power | Core Tonnage | # of Fuel Assemblies | Capital Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genkai - 1 | PWR Pressurized water reactor Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors... |
1975/02/14 | 559 MW | 1650 MW | 48 tons | 121 | 54,500,000,000 yen |
| Genkai - 2 | PWR Pressurized water reactor Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors... |
1980/06/03 | 559 MW | 1650 MW | 48 tons | 121 | 123,600,000,000 yen |
| Genkai - 3 | PWR Pressurized water reactor Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors... |
1993/06/15 | 1180 MW | 3423 MW | 89 tons | 193 | 399,300,000,000 yen |
| Genkai - 4 | PWR Pressurized water reactor Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors... |
1996/11/12 | 1180 MW | 3423 MW | 89 tons | 193 | 324,400,000,000 yen |
Earthquakes
Saga does not lie on a fault line and receives the fewest earthquakes in Japan. The 2005 Fukuoka earthquake2005 Fukuoka earthquake
The Fukuoka earthquake struck Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan at 10:53 am JST on March 20, 2005, and lasted for approximately 1 minute. The Japan Meteorological Agency measured it as peaking at a magnitude of 7.0 and named it and its subsequent aftershocks the...
was felt at the plant, but there was no equipment damage.
Events
- July 17, 1998 there was a leakage in the CondenserCondenser (heat transfer)In systems involving heat transfer, a condenser is a device or unit used to condense a substance from its gaseous to its liquid state, typically by cooling it. In so doing, the latent heat is given up by the substance, and will transfer to the condenser coolant...
of Unit 1 while operating at full power. The problem caused the plant to be run at a lower power for some time. - January 20, 1998 In Unit 3 during a routine test, leakage of one fuel assembly was discovered.
- March 31, 1999 There was a problem in Unit 2 with damage to pressure tubes of the Steam generatorSteam generator (nuclear power)Steam generators are heat exchangers used to convert water into steam from heat produced in a nuclear reactor core. They are used in pressurized water reactors between the primary and secondary coolant loops....
.
2011 restart crisis
In early 2011, Units 2 and 3 were suspended for routine maintenance. Following the Tohoku earthquake, Kyushu Electric voluntarily sought reapproval with the town of Genkai and Saga prefecture to make sure that there would be no objection to turning the reactors back on. Negotiations extended several months past the normal restart time. Because Units 2 and 3 were not restarted for the summer, Kyushu is expected to have an electricity shortage and only be able to meet 85% of normal summer needs.After the mayor of Genkai extended his approval, the larger consensus of Saga prefecture was sought. A meeting was organized to inform the people in the district and to get permission to restart the reactors. The meeting was broadcast live on TV and the internet, and viewers were invited to submit their opinions by e-mail or fax. However it became known, that the board of the Kyushu Electric Power Company had specifically instructed employees of the plant to sent emails to this meeting with positive mails for the restart. Later was admitted that not only employees of the utility but the workers of 4 affiliated firms too—more than 1,500 people in total—were involved in this. A big scandal broke out in Japanese media, because the whole meeting appeared to be manipulated.
At the same time as this crisis broke, Prime Minister Naoto Kan
Naoto Kan
is a Japanese politician, and former Prime Minister of Japan. In June 2010, then-Finance Minister Kan was elected as the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan and designated Prime Minister by the Diet to succeed Yukio Hatoyama. On 26 August 2011, Kan announced his resignation...
unexpectedly requested more stress tests of the reactor. This seemed to imply, despite the earlier assurances of the national government, that the routine maintenance and additional post-earthquake tests had not been sufficient to clear the reactors for restart, and that the mayor of Genkai had therefore approved the restart without complete information about the reactors' safety. As a result, the mayor rescinded his approval. The governor of Saga, who had not yet given his approval, also expressed surprise. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano
Yukio Edano
is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet. He was the Chief Cabinet Secretary in the Kan government. On September 12, 2011, he was named as Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry...
flew to Saga prefecture immediately to apologize to the governor in person. On July 9, Kan also apologized.
On July 12, actor Taro Yamamoto
Taro Yamamoto
is a Japanese actor.Currently, he actively involved with the anti-nuclear movement.- Selected filmography :* 1998 Love Letter* 1999 Big show! Hawaii ni utaeba* 2000 Battle Royale * 2001 Hashire! Ichiro...
, a Tokyo native who had flown into Saga to protest the potential restart, broke into the offices of Saga prefecture trying to force the governor to come out. He was unsuccessful but proclaimed that he was glad he had come to protest.
On July 20, Shingo Matsuo chairman of Kyushu Electric Power Company announced that Toshio Manabe the president of the firm will resign to take
responsibility for problems related to the utility's attempts to win local approval for restarting two nuclear reactors, and the way in which the results were manipulated. The board of directors' planned a meeting on July 27 to decide about the punishments for the executives and other officials involved, and the date of the resignation. On July 22 industry minister Banri Kaieda made a comment, "that it is natural for a top official to take the blame". But Shingo Matsuo denied that the minister had put pressure on Manabe to resign.
On 14 October Kyushu Electric Power did sent a report about the email-affaire to minister Edano, but it left out all the views of the independent commission under chairman lawyer Nobuo Gohara, that Saga Gov. Yasushi Furukawa's remark to senior Kyushu Electric officials induced the firm to start an e-mail-campaing to boost support for the restart of the reactors in a government-sponsored television program broadcast in June. The minster demanded a revision of this 14 October report, because in Edano's eyes this made the investigations of the commission meaningless. In the revised report Kyushu Electric did cite the views of the independent commission, but it also added a rebuttal to this views, on the instructions of the firm's president Manabe and with approval chairman Shingo Matsuo. This addition could make it difficult to get the report accepted by the ministry and lawyer Gohara.
On 2 November 2011 in the afternoon the No. 4 reactor was restarted. Kyushu Electric Power Company did get permission for this from NISA
NISA
NISA may refer to:*Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, part of the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry*NIS America, the US subsidiary of Nippon Ichi Software...
. The amount of power would be gradually increased and normal operations were expected on 4 November. The reactor was the first in Japan to resume operations after the March accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. In December the reactor would be stopped again for a regular inspection.
The leader of the oppositional Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by a large number of political parties in various countries around the world...
Mizuho Fukushima criticized on 3 November 2011 the Japanese government for allowing the restart of the reactor. She had no trust in NISA
Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency
The is a Japanese nuclear regulatory and oversight branch of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. It was created in 2001 during the 2001 Central Government Reform. It has a main office in Kasumigaseki, Chiyoda, Tokyo that works with the...
and she did not trust the Nuclear Safety Commission too. She asked for an open debate before restarting any nuclear reactor, but in the Diet
Diet
Diet, in relation to food, might mean:*Diet , the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group*Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake*Diet food, foods that aid in dieting...
there were no discussions at all. Fukushima remembered that the Kyushu utility was recently criticized because it manipulated public opinion in favor of nuclear power. She could not believe that the industry ministry and the agency had given permission to the restart.