The Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has decided against restarting Unit 2 of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant, considering that it failed to meet safety regulations to qualify for installation licensing. The 1,600 MW Tsuruga nuclear power plant is operated by Japan Nuclear Power Co and is located in the Japanese prefecture of Fukui, with an active seismic faultline ("D1") running directly under the building that houses the reactor of its second unit.
Current regulation set the the NRA does not allow the installation of safety-critical equipment on top of an active fault. Despite the negative ruling, the NRA considers to conduct an additional investigation and stated that it is not aiming to decommission the plant. The panel in charge of the investigation should be reporting its conclusions soon, although no specific date was given.
In 2013, the NRA issued new nuclear safety rules that limited the number of operational nuclear reactors from 54 before the Fukushima accident to 12, and the share of nuclear in the power mix dropping from 25% in 2010 to 1% in 2015. In 2023, the share of nuclear rose its highest level since 2015 to 9%, with 33 GW of nuclear capacity, of which only 11 GW is currently in operation.
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