Photo/Illutration The Mihama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture (Satoru Iizuka)

The Cabinet approved a bill on Feb. 28 that would allow nuclear reactors to operate beyond 60 years despite strong opposition over safety concerns. 

The bill would extend the limit on the reactors’ operational periods, which was introduced following the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in 2011. 

However, the bill is expected to be hotly debated at the Diet as a member of the Nuclear Regulation Authority and opposition parties have voiced objections about its contents and how the government has ignored their concerns.

The bill would revise five laws, including the Atomic Energy Basic Law, the Law on the Regulation of Nuclear Reactors and the Electricity Business Law.

Lawmakers will discuss the revisions of these laws all together at the Diet.

After the 2011 disaster, the Law on the Regulation of Nuclear Reactors’ revision determined that the life span of nuclear reactors should be 40 years, in principle, while allowing an extension of up to 20 years with NRA approval.

The government’s bill preserves this framework--the operational period of 40 years, in principle, and an extension of up to 20 years.

However, it also allows nuclear reactors to operate beyond 60 years by excluding the time during which nuclear reactors are shut down for safety inspections or court-issued injunctions.

Thus, if a reactor is shut down for 10 years for such reasons, its operational period can be extended to up to 70 years.

The bill would remove the rule about nuclear reactors’ operational periods from the Law on the Regulation of Nuclear Reactors, which is under the NRA’s jurisdiction.

The rule will, instead, be added to the Electricity Business Law, which falls under the industry ministry’s jurisdiction.

Thus, if an electricity company requests the operational period of its nuclear reactor be extended, an industry minister will assess whether the extension will lead to a stable supply of electricity or decarbonization.

This means an industry minister will make such an assessment from the standpoint of electricity usage, not safety.

An industry minister will approve the request if it is judged appropriate. 

The NRA will continue to be responsible for ensuring the safety of nuclear reactors.

It will assess how well nuclear reactors have aged every 10 years or earlier once they have been in service for 30 years.

The periods in which nuclear reactors are shut down will be included when counting the reactors’ operational period toward the 30-year starting point of the assessment.

Akira Ishiwatari, one of the five members of the NRA panel, has opposed this new system, saying that concrete criteria or methods for the assessment haven’t been decided.

He said during an NRA meeting earlier this month that the government's policy "is not a change that would make nuclear reactors safer."

Opposition parties have also expressed concern saying, “The Cabinet shouldn’t approve the bill until criteria or methods for the NRA assessment are clearly established.”

However, the government approved the bill at the Cabinet meeting on Feb. 28, ignoring such views.

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