Japan may shut nuke plant due to active fault

Japan's Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant may be closed due to an active fault.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority is planning to redefine the meaning of ‘active fault' as one that has moved anytime in the last 400,000 years. Currently, the year limit is set at 120,000 to 130,000.

A couple of faults, known as alpha and beta, run directly under Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant’s No. 1 reactor.

TEPCO, the operator of the nuclear plant, insists that neither fault lines moved for 120,000 to 240,000 years, but geological experts are not convinced. TEPCO has since conducted another study to determine the date of the fault line movements, and results are set to be released next month. An NRA official said that new guidelines will be put into effect in July, and then the safety of Japan's nuclear plants will be reevaluated.

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