Safety review sought for Shika 2

12 August 2014

Hokuriku Electric Power Company has applied for a safety review of unit 2 of its Shika plant. It becomes the twentieth Japanese reactor to seek permission to restart.

Shika 460  (Hokuriku)
The Shika plant comprises two reactors (Image: Hokuriku)

The review by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) will verify whether measures taken at the plant meet new safety standards.

Unit 2 of the Shika plant in Ishikawa prefecture is a 1358 MWe advanced boiling water reactor that began commercial operation in 2006. Hokuriku has yet to apply for a safety review of its only other reactor, Shika 1 - a 540 MWe boiling water reactor that started operating in 1993.

Revised regulations were announced by the NRA in July 2013 and these must be met before plants can secure permission from the NRA to restart. These set out essential requirements enabling plants to respond to a variety of natural phenomena as well as establishing new measures to mitigate the effects of severe accidents, such as reactor core damage caused by beyond design basis events.

The NRA is currently conducting the first two safety assessments at Sendai units 1 and 2.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News