A panel advising the Nuclear Regulation Authority said Monday it can't rule out the possibility that key geological faults running under the Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture are active.
This won't immediately force Tohoku Electric Power Co. to scrap the sole reactor at the plant as the faults don't run directly beneath the unit, but it will probably have to remain offline much longer than was expected so further safety measures can be taken.
In compiling a new report on the assessment of geological faults at the plant, the panelists agreed that explanations and data submitted by Tohoku Electric are not sufficient to prove that two major faults, called F-9 and F-3, are not active.