* Ministers to meet to discuss safety of Ohi reactors-govt
* Safety concerns run deep, local govts want new measures
(Adds comments by Trade Minister Edano)
By Risa Maeda
TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) – Japan needs more time to decide
whether to restart two offline nuclear reactors, the trade
minister said on Tuesday, as concerns about a summer power
crunch vie with safety worries in the wake of last year’s
Fukushima crisis.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will meet three cabinet
members on Tuesday to discuss restarting the reactors, but will
not make any immediate decision, Trade Minister Yuki Edano, who
holds the energy portfolio, told reporters.
“Safety should be ensured to avoid massive leaks of
radioactive materials as occurred in the Fukushima crisis even
if an earthquake and tsunami that exceed past expectations
occur,” Edano told reporters.
“We should also obtain the understanding of local
communities in that regard.”
All but one of Japan’s 54 reactors have been shut, mostly
for maintenance checks, over the months since the disaster at
Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima plant, triggered by a
huge tsunami in March 2011. The remaining reactor is set to be
closed for maintenance on May 5.
Kansas Electric Power’s No.3 and No.4 reactors at
Ohi nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture, western Japan, are the
first to have passed government-imposed, computer-simulated
stress tests, a necessary step before any restart.
Energy markets are keen to know when the Ohi reactors will
go back on line. Their restart could reduce imports of liquefied
natural gas equivalent by about 2 million tonnes a year.
To make up for the lost nuclear power, Japan’s utilities
burned 25 percent more imported liquefied natural gas –
equivalent to a total of 51.8 million tonnes – and 150 percent
more crude oil in the year to February, according to the latest
power industry data. [ID: nL4E8EE3M9]
The government, however, must persuade wary locals that the
plants are safe after last year’s nine-magnitude earthquake and
tsunami triggered the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
Nuclear power supplied about 30 percent of Japan’s
electricity before the crisis, and Noda’s administration is now
debating what role it should play in the future.
Japan’s defences against another major tsunami and the
safety of its nuclear plants were thrown into further doubt
after two official studies released at the weekend predicted
much higher waves could hit and that Tokyo quake damage could be
bigger than it was prepared for.
(Additional reporting by Osamu Tsukimori and Nobuhiro Kubo;
Editing by Linda Sieg and Nick Macfie)
