Japan approves stress test results for idle nuclear reactors

Jan 18, 2012, 13:07 GMT

Tokyo - Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency endorsed Wednesday the positive stress test results for two suspended nuclear reactors in the centre of the country.

The decision was the first since the government announced in July that safety assessments on reactors across the country would be conducted in two stages in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

Kansai Electric Power Co carried out the tests on its reactors 3 and 4 at Oi Nuclear Power Station in Fukui prefecture and submitted the results to the agency.

The operator assessed the two reactors as capable of withstanding an earthquake 1.8 times stronger than the maximum presumed quake and tsunami waves up to 11.4 metres high, or four times higher, than the maximum presumed level, Kyodo News reported.

The results will have to be approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan before the plants can be restarted.

The Fukui prefectural government also has to agree. Locals have strongly resisted the move.

A team of about 10 experts from the IAEA are to visit the Oi plant next week.

Anti-nuclear activists have said Tokyo and Kansai Electric want to restart the two reactors immediately.

Only five of the nation's 54 nuclear reactors are in service. Japan's utilities have shut down their reactors for regular checkups or maintenance, but they have been unable to restart them amid mounting public concerns about atomic power following the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

The plant was hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which triggered the crisis, leading to meltdowns at three of its six reactors.