On. Jan. 30, Kyushu Electric Power president Michiaki Uryu said the company will be ready to adhere to the new safety standards for nuclear power plants to be released by the Nuclear Regulation Authority in July. Assuming that it can restart its reactors in July, Kyuden has already submitted a request to the government to boost household electricity rates by 8.51%. The new standards propose the establishment of secondary control rooms to guard against terrorism and other accidents as part of the new safety facilities that each reactor will need to add.
Many of the new measures will require time to implement and the Authority plans to grant grace periods for some items, but companies will need to meet certain provisions in order to restart their reactors. As for Kyushu, upgrades to Genkai nuclear power plant’s No. 1 reactor, which was built in 1975, are expected to be expensive, but President Uryu avoided making any clear statement on the decision to restart the reactor. In addition to rate hikes, Kyuden also plans to cut annual employee salaries by an average of 21%. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun, Jan. 31
