| Genkai Nuclear Power Plant | |
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The Genkai NPP |
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| Country | Japan |
| Coordinates | |
| Construction began | September 15, 1971 |
| Commission date | October 15, 1975 |
| Owner(s) | Kyūshū Electric Power Company |
| Operator(s) | Kyushu Electric Power Company |
| Reactor information | |
| Reactors operational | 2 x 559 MW 2 x 1180 MW |
| Power generation information | |
| Annual generation | 25,380 GW·h |
| Net generation | 407,958 GW·h |
| As of 14 March 2011 | |
The Genkai Nuclear Power Plant (玄海原子力発電所 Genkai genshiryoku hatsudensho, Genkai NPP) 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.[1]
Contents |
All reactors at the Genkai plant use low enriched (3-4%) Uranium dioxide fuel.
| Name | Reactor Type | First Criticality | Power Rating | Thermal Power | Core Tonnage | # of Fuel Assemblies | Capital Costs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genkai - 1 | PWR | 1975/02/14 | 559 MW | 1650 MW | 48 tons | 121 | 54,500,000,000 yen |
| Genkai - 2 | PWR | 1980/06/03 | 559 MW | 1650 MW | 48 tons | 121 | 123,600,000,000 yen |
| Genkai - 3 | PWR | 1993/06/15 | 1180 MW | 3423 MW | 89 tons | 193 | 399,300,000,000 yen |
| Genkai - 4 | PWR | 1996/11/12 | 1180 MW | 3423 MW | 89 tons | 193 | 324,400,000,000 yen |
Saga does not lie on a fault line and receives the fewest earthquakes in Japan. The 2005 Fukuoka earthquake was felt at the plant, but there was no equipment damage.
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.[2] 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.[3]
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.[4]
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.[5] The governor of Saga, who had not yet given his approval, also expressed surprise.[6] Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano flew to Saga prefecture immediately to apologize to the governor in person.[7] On July 9, Kan also apologized.[8]
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.[9]
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.[10]
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. [11]
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. [12] [13]
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. [14] [15]
On 14 December 2011 the Kyushu Electric Power Company published the outcome of the primary safety assessments or "stress-tests" for three of its suspended nuclear reactors: two of them located at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in prefecture Kagoshima Prefecture, the third at was located the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant in prefecture Saga. The reports were sent to the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. The papers were also sent to the local autorities of the prefectures where the plants were located, because the reactors are not allowed to be restarted without their consent. According to the test, the reactors could withstand a seismic shock of 945 to 1,020 gals and tsunami-waves of a height of 13 to 15 meters. The power company asked its customers to reduce their power-consumption by at least 5% after 26 December, because at 25 December the number 4 reactor in Genkai would be taken out of operation for regular check-ups. Nuclear power generation did account for about 40 percent of the total output of the company, according to company official Akira Nakamura. He said that restarting reactors was crucial for them, and that the company will do all it can do to win back public-trust. However, Hideo Kishimoto, the mayor of Genkai said that it would be difficult to resume operations. He asked Kyushu Electric to disclose their practices in full, besides their efforts to prevent future accidents. [16]
On 9 December 2011 a leak was discovered in the cooling-system of reactor 3. After a temperature-rise over 80C at the base of one of the pumps an alarm was triggered, but this alarm did not indicate the leakage of 1.800 cubic meter of radioactive water, because the water did not go outside the purification system. After the leak was discovered Kyushu Electric failed to report the troubles in full to the local government. Only the failure of the pumps in the system for the No. 3 reactor were mentioned. The operator of the plant said, that the water leaked from a joining area of the pumps, with no radioactive materials leaking outside the reactor building, and that the water was completely recovered. The amount of radioactive material, that escaped, was unknown. According to NISA the leak in the purification system of the reactor did nor constitute an immediate safety problem, but NISA urged the firm to investigate the cause. However the lack of information and the incomplete report was much to the annoyance of the mayor of Genkai Hideo Kishimoto: he said, "It should have reported properly (to the Genkai town and Saga prefectural governments). I have been repeatedly telling it to change its corporate culture." [17]
On 27 December 2011 a law-suit was started against Kyūshū Electric Power Company by 290 local residents. Most of them living in the prefectures Saga and Fukuoka. They said that the disaster in Fukishima had made it clear, that an accident at the Genkai-plant caused by a possible earthquake or tsunami could damage the lives and heallth of the people living nearby. They questioned in particular the safety of the 36 year old nr. 1 reactor near the sea. Kyushu Electric commented, that it would examine the suit and would act "appropriately." This was already the third time that locals tried to stop this plant. Because in July 2011 90 people asked the local court for an injunction order to stop the nr. 2 and nr. 3 Genkai-reactors from going back online, like was done in August 2010 when about 130 local residents and others demanded from the district court to halt to the use of plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel, or MOX, at the No. 3 Genkai-reactor. [18]
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