A Japanese nuclear reactor that notably survived the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami has been temporarily shut down, merely a week after it restarted for the first time in over 13 years. The No. 2 reactor at the Onagawa nuclear power plant, which was expected to generate power by early November, was halted due to an equipment glitch involving neutron data. Tohoku Electric Power Co., the plant's operator, stated that the reactor was functioning normally and no radiation had leaked, but the shutdown was necessary to address prevailing safety concerns.
Situated 62 miles north of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Onagawa's reactors had maintained their cooling systems despite the tsunami's impact, unlike Fukushima which suffered catastrophic meltdowns. Following the Fukushima disaster, Japan's 54 commercial nuclear reactors were shut down for safety reviews; Onagawa No. 2 becomes the 13th reactor to return to operation. A new restart date has yet to be confirmed.
Amidst these events, Japan is accelerating efforts to resuscitate nuclear energy to secure stable energy supplies and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. However, this drive provoked intensifying public concern, particularly after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake on the Noto Peninsula on January 1, 2024, led to over 400 fatalities and significant structural damage. The quake's effect on nuclear facilities underscored inadequacies in evacuation planning, raising alarms over the safety of utilizing nuclear energy on a larger scale. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)
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