# 5546
Aerial Photograph of Hamaoka Nuclear power plant at Shizuoka(JAPAN) in 1988. – Wikipedia
Several days after a formal request by Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Chubu Electric Power Company – the owner and operator of the Hamaoka Nuclear Plant – has agreed to suspend operations until new safety features can be implemented.
For years there have been concerns over the location of the Hamaoka facility, given that it was built in an area widely believed susceptible to (and overdue for) an 8+ magnitude earthquake.
I wrote about those concerns last month in Divining Japan’s Seismic Future and again last week in Japan: Govt. Call To Close The Hamaoka Nuclear Facility.
NHK World News has the details.
Chubu Electric agrees to suspend Hamaoka
Monday, May 09, 2011 18:05 +0900 (JST)
Chubu Electric Power Company has agreed to accept the Prime Minister's request to suspend the operations of two reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant.
The utility decided to halt the operations of the Number 4 and 5 reactors in Shizuoka Prefecture at its board of directors meeting on Monday.
The Nagoya-based electric power company has discussed whether it can maintain stable power supplies after halting the reactors and whether it can procure enough fuel to operate its thermal power plants more efficiently.
Despite the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima facility, and the call to suspend operations at Hamaoka, Japanese officials over the weekend reiterated that country’s commitment to nuclear energy.
Details are available in this Associated Press article that appears in this morning’s Bloomberg Businessweek.
Japan won't abandon nuclear power despite crisis
By MARI YAMAGUCHI
