Japan keeps counter-terror deadline for nuclear plants

ANKARA

Japan will shut down nuclear power plants if they do not comply with counter-terrorism safety measures by a set deadline, local media said Wednesday.

The country’s nuclear regulator issued a warning that power companies must enact sufficient safety measures against terror attacks by March 2020, daily Japan Today reported.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) had previously asked operators to take steps against attacks under stricter regulations introduced in 2013 following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

A number of companies had since requested deadlines be extended, though the NRA said there was no such need.

"Under the new policy of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, the No. 1 reactor at the Sendai power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, one of the five complexes, could be suspended if operator Kyushu Electric Power Co cannot finish the work by its deadline," the daily quoted NRA chief Toyoshi Fuketa.

He underlined that plant operators were required to build facilities able to maintain reactor cooling via remote control and prevent massive releases of radioactive materials if the units come under terrorist attacks such as "planes being flown into them."

Kyushu Electric, Kansai Electric Power Co and Shikoku Electric Power Co had sought to postpone their respective five-year deadlines by one to three years, citing reasons including the need to carry out massive construction work.

"We cannot overlook the operations of nuclear facilities when they become incompatible with meeting standards," Fuketa added.