Kyoto: Govt explanation on Ohi insufficient

A Kyoto prefectural official says the government's explanations on the safety of the Ohi nuclear power plant are insufficient to restart its reactors. The official spoke to a senior representative from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Tetsuya Yamamoto, at the Kyoto Prefectural hall on Tuesday. Yamamoto explained that the entire government is dedicated to putting fresh safety standards in place following the Fukushima accident. But the Kyoto official, who heads the crisis management team, replied that it is unclear to what extent the nuclear safety commission was involved in devising the standards. He said the government explanation is inconsistent with the demands of local people. In mid-April, the government decided that the Ohi plant's 2 reactors on the Japan Sea coast need to be restarted to ensure that the Kansai region does not suffer power shortages this summer. The reactors are offline for regular checkups. Tuesday, May 01, 2012 14:53 +0900 (JST)