Chubu Electric Begins Shutdown of Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources East Asia (Kofu-shi, Japan)--On Friday, May 13, Chubu Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9502) (Chuden) (Nagoya, Japan) began the suspension of operations at its Hamaoka nuclear power station, located approximately 175 kilometers southwest of Tokyo in Shizuoka prefecture. Chuden had previously received a government shutdown order from Prime Minister Naoto Kan last Friday, and the utility company decided to comply on May 9.

Hamaoka, Chuden's only nuclear power station, consists of three active reactors, though Unit 3 is currently inactive due to scheduled maintenance and will remain in indefinite cold shutdown. Units 1 and 2 were under consideration for renovation, but due to cost and time constraints, were selected for decommissioning, and have been offline since January of 2009. Chuden began shutdown work early Friday morning by inserting control rods into the reactor of Unit 4. Unit 5 will follow on Saturday, May 14.

Chuden was also in the midst of planning a sixth reactor that would serve as a replacement for units 1 and 2. The new unit was scheduled to undergo construction in 2015, but the government of Shizuoka prefecture has decided to forego approval in light of the Fukushima Daiichi accident, as well as lack of national government policy regarding the safety of residents. Hamaoka is regarded as one of the 'most dangerous' nuclear power stations in the world due to its location. It is located on the coast of the Tokai region, which rests on the fault line between three converging plates. This region is home to the Tokai earthquakes, temblors that occur once every 100 to 150 years. All of the recorded Tokai earthquakes recorded since 684 are estimated to have been magnitude 7.9 or greater, and have had massive tsunamis associated with them.

Suspensions at Hamaoka are not meant to be definite. Chuden is responsible for increasing safety at the power station by improving tsunami resistance, which is the root of the problems at Fukushima Daiichi. A new seawall measuring 1.5 kilometers in length and 12 meters in height will be built for Hamaoka, but the company expects construction to take at least two years. Central Japan's electricity provider currently has an installed electrical capacity of approximately 30 gigawatts and the loss of Hamaoka could prove significant. Chuden is currently securing fuel sources and restarting mothballed thermal power stations in order to prevent the implementation of rolling blackouts during the summer.

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