Two cracked turbine blades have been discovered in a nuclear reactor in Shika, Ishikawa Prefecture, Hokuriku Electric Power Co. said Tuesday.
The Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency, under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, will send inspectors Wednesday to investigate the cracks, agency officials said.
Hokuriku Electric has suspended operations of the No. 2 reactor at the Shika plant to conduct the inspection under a ministry order. The order was issued after 662 turbine blades were found cracked or broken in Chubu Electric Power Co.'s No. 5 nuclear reactor in Shizuoka Prefecture, the same type as Shika's No. 2 reactor.
The utility said it came across the two cracked pieces after checking 15 blades. It is continuing its inspection of the 840 blades in the reactor.