Panel contradicts Tohoku Electric on whether faultine is active

TOKYO — A team of Japanese scientists said Thursday that faults underneath a nuclear plant in northern Japan are most likely active, a discovery that could further delay the restart of idled reactors.

The four-member panel commissioned by the Nuclear Regulation Authority said that at least two major faults underneath the Higashidori nuclear plant in Aomori Prefecture are believed to be active — a contradiction of operator Tohoku Electric Power Co’s assertion that they are inactive.

The panel said the faults could cause magnitude 7-class earthquakes near the reactor, which was opened in 2005 and is among the newest of Japan’s aging reactors.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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