EXCLUSIVE: Kansai Elec. to Begin Survey for New N-Reactor Soon

Osaka, Nov. 3 (Jiji Press)–Kansai Electric Power Co. will start a survey in early November to assess whether it can build a new nuclear reactor in or near its Mihama nuclear power plant in central Japan, Jiji Press learned Monday. The survey will mark the first concrete move toward nuclear reactor construction in Japan since the March 2011 meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 plant in the northeastern region. Kansai Electric will announce soon when the survey will begin. In July this year, the company announced plans to conduct a survey needed to build what the industry calls an innovative light-water reactor, seen as safer than conventional reactors. The town of Mihama, Fukui Prefecture, which hosts the Kansai Electric plant, accepted the start of such a survey in August. The survey will be conducted in two stages. The company will collect rock samples through drilling and examine geological conditions in the first stage. In the second stage, the company will excavate tunnels to check the properties of rocks constituting the ground. The survey is expected to continue until around 2030. Japan needs to secure stable power sources as electricity demand is expected to increase mainly due to the spreading use of artificial intelligence systems. Kansai Electric, which has already restarted all of its seven operable nuclear reactors, will move toward the construction of a new reactor given that it will take about 20 years from the survey to the start of operations. The company will not make a decision on the construction based on the results of the survey alone, President Nozomu Mori has said, adding that it will take into account profitability and the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s regulatory policy. It would also be essential for the central government and the nuclear plant operator to provide careful explanations to foster understanding of local residents and resolve difficult problems in the country’s nuclear power policy, such as the selection of a final disposal site for high-level radioactive waste. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]