Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant
Encyclopedia
The is a nuclear power plant
located in the town of Tsuruga
, Fukui Prefecture
. It is operated by the Japan Atomic Power Company
. The total site area amounts to 5.12 km2 (1,265 acres) with 4.80 km2, or 94% of it, being green area that the company is working to preserve.
The Tsuruga site is a dual site with the decommissioned prototype Fugen Nuclear Power Plant.
The construction of two new nuclear reactors is currently planned.
prefecture Kyodo started a similar law suit at the Otsu District Court against Japan Atomic Power Company
. They asked for a provisional court order to delay the restart of the two reactors at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant
in the city of Tsuruga. The plaintiffs argued that:
The operator of the plant did not want to make any comment to the press. At that time the two reactors of the plant were shut down for regular checkups. But the four-month inspection of the No. 2 reactor could be completed in December, and the checkup of reactor 1 could be completed in March 2012.
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
located in the town of Tsuruga
Tsuruga, Fukui
is a city located in southern Fukui Prefecture, Japan.-Outline:One of city of Wakasa Area, present southern Fukui Prececture. Municipalized on April 1, 1937....
, Fukui Prefecture
Fukui Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Fukui.- Prehistory :The Kitadani Dinosaur Quarry, on the Sugiyama River within the city limits of Katsuyama, has yielded the Fukuiraptor kitadaniensis and Fukuisaurus tetoriensis as well as an unnamed...
. It is operated by the Japan Atomic Power Company
Japan Atomic Power Company
The is a company initially formed to jump start the commercial use of nuclear power in Japan, and currently operates two different sites. According to the official web site, JAPC is "the only power company in Japan solely engaged in nuclear energy"....
. The total site area amounts to 5.12 km2 (1,265 acres) with 4.80 km2, or 94% of it, being green area that the company is working to preserve.
The Tsuruga site is a dual site with the decommissioned prototype Fugen Nuclear Power Plant.
The construction of two new nuclear reactors is currently planned.
Nuclear Reactors on Site
| Unit | Type | Commission date | Electric Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tsuruga - 1 | BWR Boiling water reactor The boiling water reactor is a type of light water nuclear reactor used for the generation of electrical power. It is the second most common type of electricity-generating nuclear reactor after the pressurized water reactor , also a type of light water nuclear reactor... |
March 14, 1970 | 357 MW |
| Tsuruga - 2 | PWR Pressurized water reactor Pressurized water reactors constitute a large majority of all western nuclear power plants and are one of three types of light water reactor , the other types being boiling water reactors and supercritical water reactors... |
February 17, 1987 | 1160 MW |
| Tsuruga - 3 (planned) | APWR Generation III reactor A generation III reactor is a development of any of the generation II nuclear reactor designs incorporating evolutionary improvements in design developed during the lifetime of the generation II reactor designs... |
planned July 2017 | 1538 MW |
| Tsuruga - 4 (planned) | APWR Generation III reactor A generation III reactor is a development of any of the generation II nuclear reactor designs incorporating evolutionary improvements in design developed during the lifetime of the generation II reactor designs... |
planned July 2018 | 1538 MW |
Events
- In March 1981, drainage from unit 1 caused a release of radioactivity. The forty-day cover-up of a spill of 16 tons of radioactive primary cooling water was revealed only in April.
- On 2 May 2011, Kyodo officials announced higher levels of radioactivity in the cooling water, JAPC admitted technical problems and announced to check for radioactivity on a daily basis from now on, instead of checking only every week, what has been standard procedure up to now.
Juridical actions of citizens against restarting the nuclear reactors
On 8 November 2011 a group of 40 citisens of OtsuOtsu
Ōtsu, or Otsu, may refer to:* Ōtsu, Shiga, Japan** Ōtsu Station, a railway station on the Tōkaidō Main Line ** Ōtsu incident, an assassination attempt on Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Russia...
prefecture Kyodo started a similar law suit at the Otsu District Court against Japan Atomic Power Company
Japan Atomic Power Company
The is a company initially formed to jump start the commercial use of nuclear power in Japan, and currently operates two different sites. According to the official web site, JAPC is "the only power company in Japan solely engaged in nuclear energy"....
. They asked for a provisional court order to delay the restart of the two reactors at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant
Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant
The is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture. It is operated by the Japan Atomic Power Company. The total site area amounts to 5.12 km2 with 4.80 km2, or 94% of it, being green area that the company is working to preserve.The Tsuruga site is a dual site with the...
in the city of Tsuruga. The plaintiffs argued that:
- Lake BiwaBiwaThe is a Japanese short-necked fretted lute, often used in narrative storytelling. The biwa is the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in Japanese Shinto....
, could be contaminated when a nuclear accident would occure at the plant - The whole region of Kansai is dependent on this biggest lake of Japan because it is the source of drinking water for the whole region
- an accident would endanger the health of all residents
- the Tsuruga plant is built on a site with a fault below it and a severe accident could occur during an earthquake
- the No. 1 reactor had been more than 40 years in service since it was first operational in 1970, and the Tsuruga plant was insufficiently protected against tsunami.
- the ongoing regular checks were done under the government's safety and technological standards, and the nuclear crisis in Fukushima had proven that those regulations were insufficient.
- the reactors should remain shut down until the cause of the disaster in Fukushima would be fully investigated
- the regular checks should be performed under the new safety standards.
The operator of the plant did not want to make any comment to the press. At that time the two reactors of the plant were shut down for regular checkups. But the four-month inspection of the No. 2 reactor could be completed in December, and the checkup of reactor 1 could be completed in March 2012.