Japan to run ‘stress tests’ on all its nuclear reactors

PanARMENIAN.Net - Japan said Wednesday, July 6, it will run stress tests on all its nuclear reactors in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi accident sparked by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.

The center-left government ordered a round of initial tests on the country's other atomic power plants after the disaster, and said the new stress tests aimed to reassure the public that the facilities are safe.

"The safety of nuclear power plants has been secured, but this is to gain a further sense of security among the people," Jiji Press news agency quoted Trade, Economy and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda as saying.

He did not immediately give details of what the tests would entail or when they would start, saying only they would commence soon, AP reported.

In the wake of the Fukushima crisis, the European Union ordered stress tests for its 143 nuclear plants, saying it would look at how they could withstand extreme and multiple disasters previously considered unthinkable.

The EU said the facilities would be checked for natural disasters such as quakes, floods and fires, as well as man-made actions such as plane crashes and terrorist attacks, and combinations of such events.

The EU said nuclear facilities would be tested for their resilience to quakes, floods, extreme cold, extreme heat, snow, ice, storms, tornadoes, heavy rain and other extreme natural conditions.

The tests would also cover man-made events such as aircraft crashes, explosions and fires, whether they are accidents or terrorist strikes.

The EU tests were to start with questionnaires to be checked by national regulators, followed by peer reviews among the 27 national authorities, of whom 14 have nuclear power and 13 do not.