Japan nuclear regulator rejects proposal to extend reactor lives to 60 years

TOKYO -- A single member of Japan's nuclear regulator came out against a proposal to extend the maximum operational life of the country's reactors to 60 plus years at a Feb. 8 meeting, putting the plan on hold.

The proposal aims to update Japan's rules for operating nuclear facilities, which currently sets their lifespans at 40 years in principle with a fixed ceiling of 60 years. One of the five commissioners, Akira Ishiwatari, opposes the draft, even though it was scheduled to be agreed upon at the regular scheduled meeting. Nuclear Regulation Authority NRA Chairman Shinsuke Yamanaka decided to put the issue up for debate at a special hearing next week rather than push it through with majority approval.

The outline was drafted by the NRA last year, in line with the government's plans to extend nuclear reactors' lives. The plan would allow reactors that are over 30 years old to continue operating, subject to approval based on safety inspections at least once every decade.

The commissioners were asked and debated the public input received from 1,749 people and organizations at the meeting. When Chairman Yamanaka asked members if the draft was ready for approval, Commissioner Ishiwatari spoke up, saying this is an extremely important matter and requested a vote.

When a vote was held, the other commissioners assented to the draft, but Ishiwatari opposed, saying that the revisions would drop the operation period regulation from the law, and cannot be said to be a modification to the safer side. He pointed out that due to the government's plan to extend reactor life only by the amount of time they were paused for things like inspections, this would lead to a contradictory antinomic situation where the more aging facilities required inspections the longer they would keep operating.

Ishiwatari, a geologist who worked as professor at Tohoku University, joined the NRA in September 2014 and is responsible for research in the areas of earthquakes and tsunamis.