Geo-Science Writer
This afternoon I attended a press conference of Dr. Katsuhiko Ishibashi (emeritus professor of seismology at Kobe University; photo, right) and Dr. Mitsuhisa Watanabe (professor of tectonic geomorphology at Toyo University) titled "The Oi Nuclear Power Plant Restart: Is It Really Safe From Earthquakes?" For the flyer of this event issued by the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ), visit the following website:
By attending this press conference, I am convinced that the Oi Nuclea Power Plant has not done adequate safety examination of its geological settings yet. According to Dr. Watanabe, the safety report submitted by KEPCO (Kansai Electronic Power Company) to restart this nuke power plant is based on very old data (obtained 20-30 years ago), and some crucial data (e.g., cross section of active fault that runs below the nuke power plant) is wrong and severely underestimating the safety of the nuke power plant against potential natural disasters. Dr. Ishibashi also added possible risk of tunami in the area around the Oi nuclear power plant. These are their answers to my questions during the Q & A session.
After the press conference, Drs. Ishibashi and Watanabe were surrounded by many journalists asking questions one after another for a long time, so I gave up to talk to them this time. So I think there will be a lot of articles about this press conference in both Japanese and foreign media. So please have a look at them.
Shuji
Posted on Tuesday 26 June 2012