Nuclear regulator says there will be no repeat of Fukushima under new safety rules

There wasn't supposed to be a Fukushima accident under the old safety rules, and that didn't work out.

No matter how careful. you can not guarantee safety of nuclear power plants. why out of dated nuclear energy in Japan? I wonder why inexpensive and safe solar panel power plants are not recommended in Japan. Cheaper to do research on solar panel than inspecting nuclear plant. Safer too./Sunshine do not need to be imported from Mongolia.

"There is no such thing as absolute safety." He said.

That sums the nuclear power industry quite well!

He has stated there are power back up systems, but has given no details. Are the back up systems waterproof? Are the generators still at ground level where they can be swamped by a tsunami? Way back in the early 2000's the Japanese nuclear power industry was advised to get all the back up generators onto the roofs of the housings and to waterproof all the electrical systems to make it impossible for the back up cooling systems to fail in the event of a tsunami, which they still have not done. If they had done it when they were advised to they would not be in this poop now! There is nothing stopping the same scenario as Fukushima happening again, despite what they are saying.

Safety rules too strict? Lax rules got us where we are today.

Nuclear regulator says there will be no repeat of Fukushima under new safety rules

I wonder, did he say it with a straight face? Of course he did. Does he expect the public to believe him? Of course he does, hence the bold face lie.

Wake up Japan, nuclear power plants, earthquakes, and tsunamis dont' mix, and get worse when incompetent people are running them, and idiots like this try to placate you and are condescending to you figuring you wont care to figure out the truth.

Prove them wrong!

Betting on a natural disaster to not happen is the worst risk to take.

Japanese are known for obeying rules, so everything should be just fine.

However to conclude that 'It was a profoundly man-made disaster – that could and should have been foreseen and prevented', ignores the very fact that accident was triggered by a series of natural cataclysmic events.

Then kindly explain why:

The original design-basis tsunami for Fukushima Daiichi of 3.1 meters was chosen because a 1960 earthquake off the coast of Chile created a tsunami of that height on the Fukushima coast

despite evidence of

twelve events since 1498 having a maximum amplitude of more than 10 meters, six of which had a maximum amplitude of over 20 meters

http://carnegieendowment.org/files/fukushima.pdf

“A disaster like that at Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima Daiichi will not occur,”

Yeah, and ask him why Fukushima happened and firmly state, "It was an unprecedented event. It could not have been predicted," immediately after asking you to bend over while he promises you it will never happen.

It's not if, it's when -- and this guy is ensuring that and nothing but. I want to hear and see him sign a contract saying he will take full responsibility for anything that DOES happen, regardless of his job status at the time, and that he and his family will live just to the reactor to prove that it's safe. THEN he might have a LITTLE bit of weight to what he says.

Are these regulators the same pro-industry ones handpicked by Abe? If so, we should all feel a lot safer already.

Nuclear regulator says there will be no repeat of Fukushima under new safety rules

Fukushima won't happen again? It's STILL HAPPENING! It's still NOT UNDER CONTROL!

"on the scale of the 2011 Fukushima disaster " … only on a smaller scale then… well that's a relief… ＼( ｀.∀´)／

@RedMango:Please talk about article instead of insulting entire Japanese. If you want to insult Japanese, please find related article.

Mitsubishi and Sanyo are very successful in Calif. I wonder why this committee ignore Japan Inc in USA.

Yeah you're right there is no such thing as absolute safety but putting nuclear reactors in Japan is like standing in the middle of road and hoping that you don't get hit by the 2 way traffic.

The problem with promises like this is that the agencies making them have zero credibility. It would be like Bernie Madoff saying you can trust him with your money now.

Some in the power industry call the new safety standards too strict, but Tanaka brushed such frustration aside...

I can imagine the planning that went into this (behind closed doors):

NRA: Now, shacho, as soon as we announce our new regulations...." Power Executive: What?? New regulations?? Who do you think you work for? The people?? NRA: Not to worry, shacho. We just have to say something - to look good for the peons, you know. Power Exec: So what, concretely, are you proposing? NRA: We will require all employees to sign a pledge to uphold safety standards. Power Exec: How much will the paper cost us? NRA: We'll cover it. But I need a favour. Power Exec: (Irritatedly) As if we haven't done you enough favours. What is it? NRA: If you could just go on record complaining about how this new regulation is too strict... Power Exec: Done. Now get back to work. You've already made me late for my visit to the TV network, to bring them back in line. Little people are so annoying... but I guess they pay the bills.

This idiot is playing with plutonium.... you never say never.

Only until we have an accident deemed not credible and low probability by the regulators; and there are many of these!!

Hi, SenseNotSoCommon, The only prevention was not building and locating the plant in Fukushima......

An earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 220 km northeast of Tokyo.

When nature has a bad day no wall can be built tall enough, no system or measure can predict location.No variety of backup power sources and other comprehensive emergency measures would have concise tsunami countermeasures, maximum amplitude of the tsunami was some 23 metres at point of origin and closing in from 180 km, with a run up height of 31 metres.

Criminal negligence played a part, Fukushima should have been decommissioned five years before. Oh for the benefit of hindsight.

It's all about money. Those who think solar is the way to go should ask themselves why China and India, who need energy more than most are building nuclear plants, not solar or wind. There is only one reason - money. Short term costs of nuclear are much much cheaper than non-nuclear. That assumes of course there is not a cataclysmic event.

Absurd. When volcanic activities in the proximity taken into equation, lousy evacuation plans would look totally meaningless with everything buried under falling volcanic ashes. Restarting is insane.

the brown paper bag said so

This is an article to keep on file.

To suggest that Fukushima nuclear accident was 'mad-made' so insinuating a level of preventability, a conclusion quote, “The accident was not a natural disaster but was apparently a man-made disaster,” the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission chaired by Kiyoshi Kurokawa, came to its final report is ludicrous.

There is little doubt that 'poor regulation and collusion between the government, the operator and the industry's watchdog' and 'a multitude of errors and wilful negligence' occurred, criminally so...... Has a single official been held accountable?

However to conclude that 'It was a profoundly man-made disaster – that could and should have been foreseen and prevented', ignores the very fact that accident was triggered by a series of natural cataclysmic events.

The National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission final report belies a mishmash of illogical inconsistencies. Throughout page after page the report is a mass of contradiction.

The regulations make provisions for the highest levels of earthquake and tsunami risk, mandating a variety of backup power sources and other comprehensive emergency measures.

There is no level of provision that can eliminate earthquake and tsunami risk, or prevent a reoccurrence of 2011 Fukushima disaster.

There is mandatory safety procedures and regulations that can limit faulty rationales, improving the decision making process and actions. But to guarantee a elevated level of safety is woefully misleading.

The Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident 'Independent' Investigation Commission final report had one overriding purpose, to prepare the ground by bureaucratic process to implement a restart programme.

The best course of action is a full on national debate followed by a referendum into the future of nuclear energy, cards out on the table, plain language no jargon, the facts, the dangers, the risks. the economics of decommissioning etc etc etc. I am personally more than prepared to pay higher taxes to compensate a social coherent energy policy for all.

And roll some heads in the dust, some have got away with what could amount to corporate man slaughter....

"Have faith and believe"... I think this is what he's basically saying, to have all of us follow their "religion" of nuclear power, and throw common sense aside.

It really is a huge, huge gamble anytime this dangerous technology (in all its forms) is used, such that those eagerly employing it now profit now but really don't care about the future because they'll be long gone when all those coming after them are left with the mess and the hassle of managing it or cleaning it up (even with no accidents, there's the ever-present question of what to do with the waste, which no one has ever resolved).

The fact that nuclear power arose as an afterthought of the US's nuclear weapons program in the 1940s and '50s should also make us pause to reflect, especially now with some in the LDP being more vocal about what many have long known... the LDP's desire to have Japan build it's own nukes. The connection between nuclear power & weapons is intimate, at least using today's antiquated technology. Simply because some might disagree doesn't erase this fact.

Nature doesn't always follow human-made rules like the ones nuclear regulators swear by. Any rules trying to tame this kind of technology, this kind of energy, will always be inadequate.

Why they want to keep nuclear power plant open? solar power panel maker in Calif Mitsubishi and Sanyo are Japanese. I'd bet they forgot to pay anything while uranium importers and TEPCO did not forget.

Strict regulations and safety criteria which are based on data of the past incidences never can be safe enough, because who knows how disastrous a earthquake, tunami etc. will be next?

@since1981

This is an article to keep on file.

Hardly matters when TEPCO gets a bonus

NRA chief's statement in an interview to Nikkei business daily that Fukushima type of disaster will not occur in future once safety regulations are implemented fully by the operators , could help in dispelling doubts from the minds of the Japanese public about dangers involved in generation of nuclear power after earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 which led to closure of all nuclear plants in Japan.Starting of Kyushu Electric Power's Sendai No 1 plant , will enable Japan to start its closed nuclear power plants one by one in the near future and help the country to cut down costs on importing costly fuel .This will also help Japan to enter into new civil nuclear power treaties with the various countries for export of uranium and nuclear power reactors .At the same time , all companies in the energy field must redouble their efforts on clean energy research and development to make it still more cheaper and affordable to the people and come out with more innovative solutions to meet future energy needs of the people.