Japan’s government yesterday chastised the operator of the world’s largest nuclear plant for a string of fires that has hit the facility since it closed after an earthquake almost two years ago.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant is scheduled to restart as early as this month, but the nine blazes, the latest of which hit on Saturday, have stoked fears about the safety of the plants seven reactors.
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshihiro Nikai said the latest incident was “very regrettable after we judged in February that there were no safety problems for resuming operations.”
He asked “all those concerned to reflect seriously” on the incident.
“Other countries have been paying attention to whether we’ll be able to restart our country’s biggest nuclear power plant,” he said.
The central government has in principle given the green light for the reopening of the plant, which was closed after a strong quake in July 2007 led to the leak of radioactive water from a spent fuel-rod pool.
Residents have voiced fears over the safety of the plant following a string of fires and concerns raised by some geologists that an off-shore tectonic fault could trigger stronger earthquakes.
The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power, reported another fire on Saturday, the ninth since the shutdown.
Company executive vice president Ichiro Takekuro yesterday visited the prefectural government office in Tokyo and “apologized for causing anxiety among residents,” spokesman Takayuki Akiba said.
“We will do our utmost to prevent another accident from happening and to gain residents’ understanding for the resumption of the operation,” he said.
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
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A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
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