The government of Japan is now reviewing the seismological data on nuclear plants. The data is being reviewed as there are fears over the danger from earthquakes after media reports which said that a second plant in three months had been found to be sitting atop a faultline.
The review could even lead to the permanent decommissioning of some nuclear plants in Japan. It can even prohibit the construction above active fault lines which can in turn fuel a political storm over the future of nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
Yukio Edano, the Trade and Industry Minister said, “We will hold hearings to get experts’ opinions on nuclear plants that were judged to have been based over no active faults in the past. We are rechecking all plants.” According to a review by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the excavation data for a reactor at the Shika Power Plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, there are indications that an active fault line runs beneath it.
Moreover, the shares in Horuriku Electric Power Co and Japan’s other power utilities have fell sharply on July 17, 2012. The shares fell after the government panel called for breaking up their regional monopolies.
