40 Year Old Nuclear Reactors To Be Restarted? I Don't Think So

So we all accept that technology tends to make life better, right... Except, some things like nuclear reactors, are not easily replaced because they are so expensive to build and difficult to run. Now, Japan wants to restart old reactors, that have been idled due to fears after last year's massive earthquake and tsunami. This is how I think about it:

Almost nobody would drive a car that is 40 years old, and most of our gadgets from back then have been replaced or abandoned. Somehow, the nuclear power plants are an exception. 30 or 40 years ago, well, people made great things, but since then a lot has changed. In Tokyo, for example, nobody wants to live in a building that was constructed before 1981, when the new earthquake rules came in force.

Or take your old bath tub from back then. I'm not joking, but it is rather funny how old Japanese baths were so complicated in the 1970s and 1980s. I happen to have one made by Hitatchi, it is hilarious how many levers and cranks are needed to get the hot water to flow. Some of it is for safety, some just because it was the trend of the day, 30-40 years ago. All kinds of old tubing and plastics and rubber devices. So, you can imagine I am not too thrilled to hear that the government and the nuclear industry want to extend the 40-year limit on the country's nuclear reactors. I mean, these power plants are old. Very old!

The Mainichi: 40-year limit on nuclear reactors a basic requirement

After the outbreak of the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the government said Japan would decrease its reliance on nuclear power. We have also called on the government to abandon the construction of new nuclear reactors and shut down existing reactors in the order of the risks they pose, decreasing the overall number of reactors in Japan. The 40-year limit has served as an important yardstick in this respect.

Currently, the wear on a reactor is evaluated 30 years into its operational life, and with the government's approval, the reactor's life can be extended in 10-year increments. However, even when old reactors are found to have safety-related faults, it is difficult to incorporate new technology into them.

The LDP stated it could not agree with a blanket 40-year limit on reactors -- probably from the opinion that differences between old and new model reactors and other such factors should be taken into consideration. However, reactors that are new now will be old in 40 years. In breaking away from nuclear power, there is great significance in placing a ceiling on the life of reactors. The new regulatory commission should clarify its standards for deciding on the decommissioning of reactors, and make it possible to decommission reactors before their age reaches 40 years.

Images from Antique Japanese Bathtub and Shibuya 246 - a bath that I estimate to be about 30-40 years old, much like the nuclear power plants that are currently not on-line due to concerns about their safety.

Would you like to drive a car that is 30-40 years old, except for special events, like classic car races? I don't think so.

Update:

Some 11,000 people protested outside Prime Minister Noda's residence this weekend, urging him not to restart the Ohi nuclear plants in Fukui prefecture. The first 2 power plants at Ohi went online in March and December 1979, some 33 years ago. Reactors 3 and 4, that are currently being debated, went on line in December 1991 and February 1993, some 20 years ago.

A coalition of six groups Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC), FoE Japan, Green Action, No Nukes Asia Forum, Peace Boat, and Shut Tomari have united to organize international protest against nuclear restart in Japan. Despite intense public opposition (see Women "die-in" at the Ohi reactor June 7th), and international celebration for the shut down of all reactors in Japan, officials have turned a blind eye, and are proceeding with plans to restart the mismanaged Ohi reactor in Fukui Prefecture, Western Japan.

The coalition is urging support to conduct the following acts of civil protest, preferably on Wednesday to Friday this week / June 13-15, 2012:

1. Please assemble in front of the Japanese embassies in your capital to voice your protest against the decision and policy of Prime Minister Noda.
2. Please try to submit a letter of protest -addressed to Prime Minister Noda- to the Japanese Ambassador in your country and request the Japanese Ambassador to forward this letter of protest to the Japanese Prime Minister
3. Please try to seek coverage of this action by your local and international media, especially Japanese media, as well as on the Internet
4. Please give us notice about your planned action, so we can organize a press event in Japan to reinforce your message to the Japanese government.

Some actions in Tokyo and Osaka include the following:

Tokyo
Time: Friday, June 15, 2012, 6 to 8 pm.
Location: In front of the prime minister’s official residence. (In front of Kokkai Kisha Kaikan, right outside #3 exit at Kokkaigijidomae station.)
Organizer: The Metropolitan area anti nuclear power plant alliance members.

Osaka
Time: Friday, June 15, 2012, 6 to 8 pm.
Location: In front of Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) headquarter. (6-16 Sancho-me, Nakanoshima, Kita-ku, Osaka-city, Osaka Prefecture)

More information at Fukushima Voice and Ten Thousand Things (thanks!)