One of Japan's nuclear reactors is sitting on an active fault, says the country's nuclear watchdog.
After six months of site inspection and study, an expert panel of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday concluded that the No. 2 reactor of the Tsuruga plant in central Japan is sitting on an active fault.
Government safety guidelines ban building of nuclear reactors above faults that can move and cause earthquakes. The finding prohibits Japan Atomic Power, the plant's operator, from putting the reactor back into operation unless it produced data overturning the panel's decision. If it fails to do so, the reactor may have to be scrapped, Japan's NHK broadcaster reported.
The panel of nuclear experts was set up to look into fissures suspected to be active at six nuclear plants. The Tsuruga plant is the first for which the panel made a final report.
Most of Japan's 50-odd nuclear reactors were remaining offline since the March, 2011 tsunami-triggered accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan's northeast. Four reactors of the plant severely damaged in the accident, triggering meltdowns and radiation leaks. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes in the worst atomic disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.
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