During the Great East Japan Earthquake, there was damage from underground flooding due to the tsunami.
Tohoku Electric Power Company announced that Unit 2 of Japan’s Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant will restart in September. It is expected to be the first nuclear power plant to be restarted in the East Japan region after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
According to the Nippon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) and Yomiuri Shimbun on the 20th, Tohoku Electric Power Company announced on the 20th that the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2, which spans Onagawajo and Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture, was shut down the previous day. The restart date was announced in September of this year.
Tohoku Electric Power Company postponed restart due to delays in fire prevention construction, etc., but explained that it can restart in September because all construction is expected to be completed in June of this year.
Yomiuri pointed out that if Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 is restarted, it will be the first nuclear power plant in the East Japan region to restart after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.
Tohoku Electric Power Company originally aimed to restart operations in February of this year, but postponed it twice. This is because the amount of work has increased due to insulation work to prevent fire damage to electrical cables within the reactor building. Tohoku Electric Power Company emphasized, “There will be no further delays in construction.”
If the nuclear power plant restarts in September, commercial operation will begin in October. Nikkei predicted, “If everything goes smoothly, it will meet the winter heating demand period.”
During the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, shaking of about magnitude 6 was observed in the area where the Onagawa nuclear power plant is located.
The Japan Meteorological Agency divides earthquake shaking into 10 levels: intensity 0, intensity 1, intensity 2, intensity 3, intensity 4, intensity 5, intensity 5, intensity 6, intensity 6, and intensity 7. Jindo 0 is the lowest level.
A seismic intensity level of 6 or so is shaking to the point where it is difficult to stand. Most furniture that is not fixed may move or fall over. This is a shaking that can cause the door to not open. Walls, tiles, and window glass are damaged or broken. Wooden buildings with low earthquake resistance may tilt or fall.
According to the Tokyo Shimbun, Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 to 3 were all automatically shut down during the Great East Japan Earthquake, but a tsunami of up to about 13 meters struck. As seawater flowed in, the basement of Unit 2 of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant was flooded. Fine cracks were also found in more than 1,000 places on the walls of this building.
Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1 was decided to be decommissioned in 2018. Unit 2 of the nuclear power plant met the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s review standards, which are prerequisites for restarting operations in February of this year. Nuclear power plant unit 3 is currently considering an application for restart review.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.