The government will subject nuclear fuel reprocessing and storage facilities to its safety checks introduced in connection with the Fukushima crisis, in addition to reactors now undergoing stress tests, trade minister Yukio Edano said Friday.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, under the wing of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, will instruct the operators of nuclear fuel cycle facilities to report their safety evaluation results for the facilities by the end of April.
NISA required electric utilities to conduct the safety checks on their nuclear reactors in July.
The agency said 14 nuclear fuel cycle facilities will be subject to the tests. The facilities include Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd.'s plant for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, as well as a facility for intermediate storage of spent nuclear fuel under construction in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture.
Experiments for the Rokkasho plant's completion have been suspended since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima Prefecture. NISA doesn't plan to link authorizing the plant's operation to the results of the new safety tests.
The facilities' operators will evaluate the extent to which key installations can withstand extreme natural events. Their reports will be checked by the new nuclear safety agency to be launched in April.
Yokohama strontium check
There appears to be no link between radioactive strontium detected in Yokohama and the Fukushima nuclear crisis, according to the science ministry.
The ministry said Thursday it tested sediment and soil samples collected at two locations in Kohoku Ward by the city office, but did not detect strontium-89, which has a half-life of around 50 days and would have suggested a link to the meltdowns at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.