Nuclear Energy Institute Report on Japan’s Nuclear Reactors, May 21, 2012

Plan to Restart Ohi Reactors Meets Resistance

Industry/Regulatory/Political

• The governors of Kyoto and Shiga prefectures oppose the restart of Ohi’s reactors, which the Ohi town assembly had approved last week. The governors say that the government should first finish investigating the causes of the Fukushima Daiichi accident and complete a long-term energy plan. The Japanese government said it would set up a joint council composed of representatives from Fukui, Shiga and Kyoto prefectures to monitor the Ohi plant. Ohi is in Fukui prefecture.
• Farmers began planting rice on a test basis at 30 rice paddies around Kauachi Village near the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Rice planting had previously been banned at all area paddies, and the test will determine the safety of doing so. The goal is to fully resume rice production next season if the test proves successful.
• The Japanese government urged at least a 15 percent cut in electricity in its urban-industrial west this summer from 2010 levels in order to cope with anticipated shortages, but made the action voluntary, as opposed to the mandatory cuts in eastern Japan last year. The government said it wants to avoid rolling blackouts in the region, which is home to many manufacturers including Panasonic and Sharp.
• Japan’s Ministry of Environment projects the country will produce an additional 180-210 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions this year, compared to the base year of 1990, when emissions totaled 1.261 billion tons. In 2010, Japan’s emissions were close to 1990 levels. Japan pledged in Copenhagen in 2009 to slash emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.
• The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has endorsed industry guidance on emergency response staffing and communications, developed in response to recommendations from the Fukushima task force. In a May 15 letter, the NRC said that the guidance is an “acceptable method” for the industry to respond to the agency’s request for information issued in March.
• NRC staff approved on May 17 industry guidance on flooding walkdowns during.  The document will be submitted May 21for formal endorsement, which is expected by May 31.

Media Highlights

• Bloomberg reports that TEPCO expects a narrower annual loss in the fiscal year ending March 2013 after a government-approved business plan proposed, among other measures, increasing electricity rates. TEPCO requested a 10.28 percent raise in electricity rates for households and small businesses to begin in July. TEPCO said it expects to return to profitability in the fiscal year ending March 2014.

Upcoming Meetings

• The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards’ Fukushima subcommittee meets May 22 and 23 to review and discuss the staff’s plans for implementation of “Tier 3 recommendations” by the NRC’s Near-Term Fukushima Task Force.
• The NRC will hold a public meeting May 23 to discuss the implementation of Order EA-12-050, regarding reliable hardened containment vents at boiling water reactor facilities with Mark I and Mark II containments. The industry has urged the NRC to separate the issue of reliable hardened vents—required for some reactors under a post-Fukushima order issued in March—from the question of whether such vents should be filtered.