Japan's nuclear reactor fails safety inspection

This is the first time Japan has recorded such a case since the regulatory agency was established following the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant in 2011 caused by an earthquake and tsunami.

According to Kyodo news agency on August 28, the test was carried out on reactor No. 2 at the Tsuruga plant. The plant is operated by Japan Atomic Power Company (JAPC). However, the plant's reactor did not meet safety requirements.

The initial cause is thought to be that there may be active faults beneath the reactor building and that these faults could potentially become the source of another earthquake at some point in the future.

Therefore, the above agency will synthesize the results into an assessment report and then collect public opinions on this report before making an official decision expected in October.

Japanese law prohibits the construction of reactors or other safety-critical facilities directly above active faults.

Reactor No. 2, which began commercial operations in February 1987 but was shut down in May 2011, has been a difficult process to assess the safety of the reactor. A team of experts from the Japan Nuclear Regulation Authority has not ruled out the possibility that a fault operating about 300 meters north of the reactor could extend below the reactor's subsurface.

However, in November 2015, Japan Nuclear Power Company first applied for a safety review in the hope of restarting the reactor, arguing that no such fault existed under the reactor structure. Japan’s nuclear regulator twice rejected the request, suspending the on-site review process, saying that Japan Nuclear Power Company had submitted documents with incorrect information. The company re-applied last August.

The Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant is a complex of two reactors, of which reactor No. 1 is about to be phased out.