Japan's nuclear agency OKs restart of quake-hit reactor+

TOKYO, Feb. 13 Kyodo -
Japan's nuclear safety agency gave the green light to Tokyo Electric Power Co.
on Friday to restart one of its seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant,
suspended since a powerful earthquake in 2007, government officials said.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has concluded that the No. 7 reactor
is clear for a test run after examining the power company's plan and inspection
data, the officials said.
The Niigata Prefecture nuclear plant, the world's largest, has been shut down
since July 16, 2007, when a magnitude 6.8 quake struck the area, leaving more
than 10 people dead and causing a fire as well as a small amount of radioactive
water to leak into the sea.
For the test run, the company must still win approval from the governments of
the prefecture, Kashiwazaki city and Kariwa village, located about 200
kilometers northwest of Tokyo.
If authorized by the local governments, Tokyo Electric will test the reactor by
raising its output in stages to the maximum possible level and check whether
everything is functioning properly, the officials said.
''Details are being worked out. But we expect it will last 40 to 50 days,'' a
Tokyo Electric official said, when asked about the duration of the test run.
The reactor will be halted again if any glitches occur in the test run. But if
all goes well, the No. 7 reactor may operate commercially in time for the
summer peak-demand period.
The company said in a statement it will continue to inspect and implement
recovery efforts ''on the principle of safety first.''
Tokyo Electric has finished reinforcing the quake resistance of the No. 6 and 7
reactors by spending a total of about 30 billion yen.
But the remaining five still need to go through a range of inspections.
The power company had said the quake was more powerful than what the seven
reactors were envisaged to be able to withstand at the time of their design.
The focus of the quake was only 16 kilometers from the plant.
==Kyodo
2009-02-13 22:40:52