Japan nuclear plant on fault line may be next Fukushima, says geologist

Oi nuclear power plant, with the Sea of Japan in the backgroundAgence France-Presse has reported that Mitsuhisa Watanabe, a tectonic geomorphologist at Tokyo’s Toyo University who is serving on a scientific advisory panel looking at the seismic risks at Oi nuclear power plant in Japan, has warned against continued operations at the two atomic reactors.

When asked if Kansai Electric Power Company should be allowed to continue operating the reactors on top of what he deems an active earthquake fault, Watanabe answered:

“It would be a very silly option.”

“We would have learned nothing from Fukushima. I’m afraid we would see a repeat (of the disaster) one day.”

The two reactors at Oi, in Fukui Prefecture on the shore of the Sea of Japan on the western edge of Honshu, were allowed to restart last June by Japanese Prime Minister Noda, despite regular protests by tens and even hundreds of thousands of protestors at his residence, which continue to the present day. They are the only two reactors in Japan to have been restarted since the beginning of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe on March 11, 2011. The catastrophe destroyed four reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Although 50 reactors remain operable in Japan, 48 have remained shutdown due to grassroots pressure.