Chubu Electric Power Co. on April 28 disclosed a plan to resume by July the operation of the No. 3 reactor in its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture. The reactor has been under regular check and observation since November 2010. The plant sits inside a zone where a magnitude-8 earthquake — referred to as the Tokai Earthquake — is expected to occur with high probability.
In view of the Fukushima nuclear power plant accidents, the firm should rethink its plan. Chubu had assumed that the quake would cause a tsunami up to 8.3 meters high. After the Fukushima accidents occurred, it announced that it will build a bulwark 15 meters or more in height from sea level behind a 10-to-15-meter high dune facing the sea and lying in front of the plant, Chubu's only nuclear power station.
Chubu president Akihisa Mizuno says that the plant is sufficiently safe. One cannot but see he is overconfident. One question is whether the bulwark can withstand a tsunami.