ID :
205170
Sun, 09/04/2011 - 20:38
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/205170
The shortlink copeid
Nuclear minister eyes standards for reactors' lifespan+
TOKYO, Sept. 4 Kyodo -
Goshi Hosono, a minister tasked with handling the country's nuclear crisis, said Sunday that the government needs to set definitions and standards for how long existing nuclear power reactors should be allowed to operate before they are decommissioned.
Hosono, who doubles as environment minister, told a group media interview that a new nuclear safety agency to be created to enforce greater supervision over the country's nuclear power plants will be closely involved in decommissioning.
''We can't extend (the reactors' lifespan) by looking sideways at electric power companies' business but must create a situation where we can make decisions scientifically,'' Hosono said.
While nuclear reactors are designed to run for between 30 and 40 years, there is no legal rule concerning their lifespan. Electric power companies have taken the view that reactors can be operated for as long as 60 years if properly managed.
On Friday, Yoshihiko Noda said at his first news conference as prime minister that the country will shut down reactors at the end of their lifespan one by one, though without specifying what their lifespan would be.
In the interview, Hosono said it is ''not necessarily scientific'' to set a numerical cutoff line for nuclear power reactors, noting that they are of different types and that natural disaster scenarios differ depending on where they are located.
But ''40 years may possibly be a line,'' he said, adding that one criterion would be the degree to which a reactor could withstand a worst-case earthquake or tsunami.
Goshi Hosono, a minister tasked with handling the country's nuclear crisis, said Sunday that the government needs to set definitions and standards for how long existing nuclear power reactors should be allowed to operate before they are decommissioned.
Hosono, who doubles as environment minister, told a group media interview that a new nuclear safety agency to be created to enforce greater supervision over the country's nuclear power plants will be closely involved in decommissioning.
''We can't extend (the reactors' lifespan) by looking sideways at electric power companies' business but must create a situation where we can make decisions scientifically,'' Hosono said.
While nuclear reactors are designed to run for between 30 and 40 years, there is no legal rule concerning their lifespan. Electric power companies have taken the view that reactors can be operated for as long as 60 years if properly managed.
On Friday, Yoshihiko Noda said at his first news conference as prime minister that the country will shut down reactors at the end of their lifespan one by one, though without specifying what their lifespan would be.
In the interview, Hosono said it is ''not necessarily scientific'' to set a numerical cutoff line for nuclear power reactors, noting that they are of different types and that natural disaster scenarios differ depending on where they are located.
But ''40 years may possibly be a line,'' he said, adding that one criterion would be the degree to which a reactor could withstand a worst-case earthquake or tsunami.
